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Seattle Dance Annual

2013

2013

Seattle Dance Annual

Révérence to kaori nakamura , who retires in 2014 from Pacific Northwest Ballet. Brilliant, brave, musical, specific, almost lighter than air. Thrilling, you captured us with every role.

photo: Kaori Nakamura in Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles at Pacific northwest ballet (Angela Sterling photo)

About the online version In the free, online PDF (at seattledanceannual.com), most URLs & s are live links. Items in the table of contents and index are also live links. Click the top-left corner of the spread for the table of contents.

Seattle Dance Annual 2013 Designed & edited by Rosie Gaynor Published by Seattle Scriptorium, May 2014. First edition. ISBN: 978-1499183160 Design © Rosie Gaynor, 2014. Photographers, companies, authors, etc. retain copyright to their materials herein. Please do not reproduce any portion of this book for trade or sale. Contact individual companies if interested in reproducing photos. front cover image: karin stevens of Karin Stevens Dance (Dieter zander photo) back cover image: Joan Laage of Kogut Butoh in her Arbor Corpus from The Engendering Project (Briana Jones photo)

crystal Pite’s Emergence at pacific Northwest Ballet (Angela sterling photo).

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And, again, all together... Editor’s note

Pictures help. When I look at the images of Mark Haim’s This Land Is Your Land, I can feel the dancers’ footfalls as though they are my own. The rhythm and the sassy purposefulness of their gaits are somehow in my own body now. I can feel how Jim Kent carried his weight, so nonchalant in his gold lamé pantsuit, and I feel liberated. I can feel the carefree squareness of Beth Graczyk’s sashay and it makes me happy. Inside my desk-job body, I can feel the dance. The dance is still dancing. And in this way, dance is not so very ephemeral after all.

mark Haim’s This Land is Your land: from On the boards in seattle... to the american dance festival in Durham, NC... after a tour to the ArtDanThe Festival in paris...

When I look at these three images, I can hear my friend, who hates naked dance, urging me to go see this piece because it’s worth the nakedness. I can feel the

(left–right: tim summers 2010 photo; Grant Halverson/ADF 2013 photo; mark haim 2013 photo)

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Dance is ephemeral. Which is one reason I talk about it and write about it—because I love it and I want to make it last longer. I want there to be a memory and a record that something significant happened.

coexisting, coexciting... S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

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person sitting on my right glowering at the repetition of this piece, muttering: “Here’s my theme: Let. Me. Hit. You. O. Ver. The. Head. With. It!!!” I can feel the person on my left, bouncing to the tunes, busting out a joyous “Oh, yeah!” each time a costume change surprised her. I’d like to think I heard her shout “Amen!” but this is Seattle, so I have to doubt that particular part of the memory. Before the show’s 2013 tour to Paris, I saw This Land Is Your Land at PNB studios, which I thought was kind of funny and kind of marvelous. I loved seeing these dancers walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk in a studio that the next day would be filled with tendus and pirouettes, not annihilating them or degrading them, but coexisting. We do have such breadth and depth of dance here in Seattle, coexisting, coexciting. Which brings me back to the beginning of this introduction (Oh, yeah!) and to the point of this annual (Let me hit you over the head with it): Dance is ephemeral, but we love it, and we can talk and write about it. There can be a record. Pictures help. And in this way, dance is not so very ephemeral after all. Amen!

—Rosie Gaynor

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Essays A sample of workS by some of seattle’s current dance scholars Quiet Riot: Modern Dance as Embodied Feminism/Women Respond to Elles@SAM by Tonya Lockyer Jack Cole and the Integral Elements of Jazz Dance Technique by Paula J. Peters, M.F.A.

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appear that dance is an inherently subversive activity.” (422) What to make then of the ballet Swan Lake where, given the choice between a real woman or a swan, the hero prince Albrecht chooses the bird? Romantic and classical ballet, rather than celebrate a real corporeality, colluded a weightless, classical ideal of “Woman” as a symbol of spiritual purity. In contrast, Modern Dance, since its inception at the turn of the twentieth century, has predominately been viewed as a breakthrough for women. Early modern dance repudiated ballet’s fetish for other-worldly swans and sylphs, firmly planting women’s feet on the ground. The first-, second-, and third-generation pioneers and innovators of modern dance and the leaders of the Judson Dance Theater were also predominantly women.

Quiet Riot

Modern Dance as Embodied Feminism/ Women Respond to Elles@SAM by Tonya Lockyer

In contemporary discourses on

reprinted from Stance

the body, dance has not received the same critical or philosophical attention as the fields of art, literature, and cinema. Yet dance would appear to be a natural starting point. It is one of the few art forms in which feminist theory is actually embodied.

Carol Prieur in Marie Chouinard’s The Golden Mean (Sylvie-Ann Paré photo; courtesy of Compagnie Marie Chouinard).

In her essay “Reinstating Corporeality,” Janet Wolf proposed: “Since the body is clearly marginalized in Western culture, it might 14

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When Isadora Duncan removed her corset and danced barefoot in a Grecian tunic, in the context of her day (1898), she was as good as nude. For Duncan, this physical and sexual liberation was necessary for women’s physical, spiritual, and social emancipation. Duncan designed her dances to bring into being the “new woman” . . . “the highest intelligence in the freest body.” Twenty years later, German choreographer Mary Wigman concealed the gendered body altogether in The Witch Dance to emphasize the motion and tensions of time and space. Wigman’s contemporary Martha Graham rebelled against her own puritanical upbringing by creating works that celebrated iconic embodiments of female power. By the 1960s and ’70s, worried that the “sexual revolution” might not have been so liberating after all, Judson Dance Theater dance-makers Lucinda Childs, Trisha Brown, and Yvonne Rainer mirrored the sexual restraint of second-wave feminism. Many of the Judson-era choreographers struggled 15

...beyond the body is the somatic experience of the dancer... with the dilemma of how one could display the body in an art form that relied on physical presence, without becoming an exhibitionist or mere object for the spectator. With dances entitled The Mind Is a Muscle or Leaning Duets, they attempted to subvert the voyeuristic “male gaze,” demonstrating they were more than bodies by wearing unisex outfits and performing often resolutely unsexy, austere, cerebral tasks with deliberately blank, unemotional facial expressions.

About the Author Tonya Lockyer is the Executive/ Artistic Director of Velocity, an Affiliated Faculty member of Cornish College of the Arts, and an award-winning dance artist with more than 20 years of experience touring internationally. Lockyer actively sits on numerous national and local arts panels and is a sought-after speaker on contemporary performance and cultural vitality. She has served as a speaker/lecturer at American Dance Festival, On the Boards, PICA, Dance/USA, Dance Critics Association, Mimar Sinan University Istanbul, and many North American universities. She is published in international journals, exhibition catalogues, and the book Vu du Corps: Lisa Nelson Mouvement et Perception. 16

In the 1980s, the “natural” body of just a decade earlier became passé. In 1981, as the world witnessed the first baby fertilized in vitro, female dancers became muscle-bound dynamos. American dancer Molissa Fenley made the glossy pages of People Magazine as the embodiment of the new “aerobic body.” Sleek, fit, and muscular, she eschewed dance classes for Nautilus machines, calisthenics, and running. Choreographer Elizabeth Streb also achieved substantial recognition for her physically brutal, androgynous “equipment pieces.” Her muscle-bound male and female dancers dressed in identical unitards, dove from great heights, and threw themselves against walls, the impact of their hard bodies amplified for visceral effect. This was dance that spoke its politics through direct physical risk and force. Duncan’s turn-of-the-century luminous sensuality and Streb’s brutal post-modern asexuality may be stark contrasts on the surface, but both embodied aspects of the prevailing feminist ideologies of their eras. It is easy in retrospect to critique the essentialism of early modern dance’s evocation of the “natural body” or Graham’s embodiment of essentialist icons of “Womanhood.” The Judson strategy of “erasure” has also been critiqued by feminist dance theorists like Ann Cooper

Albright, who questioned if the “erasure” of subjectivity was the “ultimate route for feminists to take.” Albright evoked the work of Canadian choreographer Maire Chouinard to argue that contemporary dance in the ’80s could potentially fracture the “conventional reification of body image and jolt the gaze of the spectator” by shifting the discourse away from the body to the space of the “physical experience of the dancer—her moving, her motion, her subjectivity.”

From the beginning of her career, Chouinard shared philosophical and aesthetic concerns with other artists of the ’70s and ’80s feminist avant-garde. These women forged new creative territories and shared Chouinard’s interest in the complexity of embodiment, performance as ritual or sacred art, the sensuous experience of the body as the source for movement and voice, and a belief in the body as a special medium or spiritual force. Chouinard began her work as a self-proclaimed “body artist.” In the ’80s, “the body” was a focus of growing intellectual interest both within and without feminism. Body artists of the ’70s and ’80s used performance as a subversive means to question and expose the construction of the body in culture, to act outside of social expectations, and to release energy contained by cultural taboos. During this period, Marie Chouinard created some of the most provocative and controversial choreography of the late twentieth century. It was Petite danse sans nom (1980) that first gained her notoriety. Dressed in a geometric white dress, Chouinard walked onstage, drank a glass of water, parted her legs in a plié à la seconde, and peed into an amplified aluminum bucket. Her reputation grew with solos like Marie Chien Noir (1982), where S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

she calmly slid her hand down her throat until she reflexively gagged, then quietly sang a simple folk song while masturbating. Chouinard insists her intention was not to shock, but to shatter classical expectations of female beauty with the reality of her body.

I only have second-hand accounts to go on, but according to Albright and others who have written of being in the audience for Marie Chien Noir, the masturbation was not presented in a way that elicited desire. Former Chouinard dancer (and now Seattleite) Louis Gervais has described not knowing Chouinard was masturbating until “the rhythm of her breath began to change the rhythm of her singing.” These “petite” dances, although early in the development of her research, embody Chouinard’s desire to give audiences a palpable, sensory experience of her body. Chouinard experienced herself through her felt-experiences and she insisted that the audience be given opportunities to recognize these experiences. She aimed to allow the intense reality of her female body to fill the performance space with a tangible density. In 1987, Chouinard created a genderbending performance—a solo that blurred biological, social, cultural, and historical boundaries. Chouinard’s metamorphosis in L’Après-midi d’un faune (1987) involved the appropriation of famous danseur Vaslav Nijinsky’s body through an elaborate costume with a padded calf and thigh, and through her interpretation of his famous dance of the same name. At the time of Chouinard’s performance, mainstream gender-bending had taken hold in North American culture with a politically charged vengeance. This social movement predated Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble (1990), in which Butler introduced the term S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

performativity. She stated that identities and genders are not innate but performed and socially constructed. According to Butler, gender was something you “did.” It was not natural or organic. It was fluid, variable, and could shift or change in different contexts. Chouinard’s performance reflected the cultural zeitgeist but, even from a dance history perspective, it was provocative.

When Nijinsky performed his Faune in 1912, it was instantly notorious, inciting charges of indecency and amorality for making a spectacle of male sexuality. In Nijinsky’s version, the Faune surprises a group of nymphs. One of them drops her scarf and he carries it back to his rock where he stretches it out and thrusts his pelvis into it. With a few jerks of pleasure he then lies still. In Chouinard’s version, at the end of the solo, the Faune detaches a ram’s horn from his/her head and attaches it to their pelvis. Sheathing the phallus in a red condom, the Faune then plunges it into a beam of light. As Albright has pointed out, the ambiguity (and I would add the potential spiritual implications) of Chouinard’s object of desire shifts the viewer’s awareness to the powerful sexual desire of Chouinard herself. Chouinard’s work can be experienced as a liberatory feminist vision. Driven by the vital energy of eros, Chouinard’s dances arguably fulfill French feminism’s dream of a real liberation of sexuality. Much writing on dance and feminist theory focuses on the representation of gender and the body. But Chouinard’s work reveals that beyond the body is the somatic experience of the dancer—the subjective changing perception of movement in flux. Today, the feminist rallying cry “The Personal is Political” has been interrogated by a post-structuralist agenda that questions

the political ground of subjectivity and essentialism. As a result, the public revelation of a woman’s subjective/personal/somatic/ erotic/spiritual experience is no longer seen in itself as necessarily a political act. However, post-structuralism also demonstrated that whether a performance is political, and what it “means,” depends not only on content but context: who makes it, who sees it, where, and when. Given post-structuralism’s emphasis on context, one can still convincingly argue that within their historical milieus, these women dance artists (and many more) embodied the feminist project to emancipate women by subverting dominate cultural ideals of “appropriate” behavior for both sexes, constructing new identities, new bodies, and new feminist spaces. What is today’s feminist project? Does dance still construct new identities, bodies, and feminist spaces? Where can current feminist theory be found, embodied in dance, in 2012? Or, is the goal of representing women vs. men (to quote Camille Morineau, who organized elles@centrepompidou in 2009) “no longer important”?

This article was previously published on November 6, 2012, in Stance: Journal of Choreographic Culture, Velocity Dance Center’s online journal, which aims to activate and foster thoughtful discourse on dance, movement-based research, and choreographic culture in and beyond Seattle. © Tonya Lockyer 2012

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Jack Cole and the

Integral Elements Jazz Dance Technique of

By Paula J. Peters, M.F.A. An excerpt from in-process, unpublished research on the history of important figures in jazz dance history

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Only six boxes chronicling the life of dancer-choreographer Jack Cole remain in the UCLA Special Collections Library. There are

random photographs, newspaper clippings, contracts, playbills, reviews, and articles on Jack Cole’s career. In addition, one box contains transcripts from oral history interviews conducted by theater scholar Glenn Loney for his biography of Jack Cole, Unsung Genius: The Passion of Dancer-Choreographer Jack Cole. These archival materials provide tantalizing snippets of the life of Jack Cole, a man who I argue played a pivotal role in the formation of jazz dance technique. During the course of my research, I discovered that this accomplishment is unrecognized by many dancers, teachers, and dance scholars. This lack of recognition led me to question why S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

photo above: Jack Cole teaching at Jacob’s Pillow, 1971 (Photo by John Van Lund, © Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Archives) 19

Abstract Jack Cole was a pivotal figure in the formation of jazz dance technique during the 1940s and 1950s. His highly athletic choreographic aesthetic for Hollywood films demanded that dancers train in a way that would physically and stylistically prepare them to perform his works. Oral history interviews I conducted in conjunction with archival research revealed that controversy exists over whether or not Jack Cole developed a jazz dance technique and if current jazz dance in any of its inceptions is considered a technique or a style. My research further discovered that very little scholarship has been written about the underlying integral elements that must be present in the study, performance, and scholarly examination of jazz dance technique. Based on my own experiences as a professional jazz dancer and teacher, oral history interviews, and archival research, I will argue the following points: Through training dancers in his unique choreographic aesthetic with daily classes, Jack Cole indeed facilitated the emergence of a technique that became the precursor to the vast institutions of current studio jazz dance techniques. I will also argue that the unrecognized defining principles of jazz dance are the constant unity of an internal rhythmic pulse, precise isolation of all body parts, and a distinct personal style in the execution of all movements. I believe that without unification of these integral elements into the discussion of physical jazz dance technique, a complete picture of what makes jazz dance a unique dance form cannot be ascertained.

Jack Cole remains such an unacknowledged figure in American dance history. How could Cole, whose name was praised by dancers who worked for him, hailed as a genius in newspaper articles and reviews, only have six boxes, a smattering of scholarly articles, and one book honoring his accomplishments? My research has led me to conclude that a main factor in this discrepancy is that jazz dance class, and therefore Cole’s formation of the early inceptions of jazz dance class, is underutilized and often marginalized as a main training technique in its own right in many circles of dance educators. That Thing Called “Jazz”

In my own experiences, answering the question of “what kind of dancer were you?” with “I was a concert jazz dancer” is generally met with, “ooohhh…jazz hands!” followed by a very poorly executed cross-ball-change into a pirouette into some sort of stereotypical “jazz” shape complete with a cheesy smile and a shabbily done five-fingered hand isolation. If I answer with “I was trained in R.A.D. ballet and Cecchetti ballet techniques but decided to become a jazz dancer,” I generally receive a further inquiry about what styles of jazz I performed. The inexpertly executed mini-dance routine rarely enters into the picture if I qualify my jazz dance career with solid training in ballet technique. I have always pondered why this poorly imitated jazz dance routine has persisted over the 20 years I have been a student, performer, teacher, and choreographer of jazz dance. How can so many seemingly misunderstand that jazz dance is a valid and difficult dance technique that stands on its own without the qualifiers of other Western concert dance techniques? When I have been able to convince a nonjazz dancer to attend a jazz class with me, generally the first words uttered after class are “Wow! That was harder than I thought it would be!” Given this discrepancy between observing and participating, what is it about the aesthetics of jazz dance that lends to this

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misconception? Why are the high levels of physical precision and internalized musicality requisite to become proficient at jazz dance disregarded as difficult techniques in their own right? Attempting to answer these questions, I researched dancer-choreographer Jack Cole, who I believe was the first person to create a system of training that has evolved into current jazz dance technique classes. Through archival and embodied research methods and oral history interviews, I have identified specific physical elements that Jack Cole utilized to create his dance technique. In this paper I will discuss: 1) The controversy over whether Jack Cole created a studio jazz dance technique; 2) The three elements I believe make up and are integral to Cole’s jazz dance technique; 3) The technical and stylistic elements that combined to make up Cole’s jazz dance technique; 4) How elements of Cole’s technique are still utilized in current jazz dance technique and choreographic works. Controversy

My research interests are rooted in my first-hand experiences as a professional jazz dancer who studied, performed, and taught works in the style of Jack Cole. From these experiences, I physically understand his technique is astonishingly rigorous. However, this experience is not unusual in any genre of dance technique. What I believe made Cole’s technique singular is that it was one of the first of its kind, whose influences are still clearly present today in jazz dance classes and choreography. However, my research revealed that whether or not Jack Cole created a specific jazz dance technique is a contentious issue. Some say Jack Cole never had a technique for training dancers, but rather a style of moving. On July 16, 2010, during an oral history interview with Spider Kedelsky, a former student of and dancer for Jack Cole at University of California Los Angeles, I asked whether developing a “Jack Cole Technique” had been one of Cole’s aims. Kedelsky replied: S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3



What he did was very distinctive, and he had a range of styles. When you say the ‘Jack Cole Technique,’ yes, there was a way of teaching, but Cole himself, as far as technique went, was really an admirer of ballet, and even more of Cecchetti [ballet training]…but to the extent that it was tremendously rigorous, danced very low to the ground, very direct, lots of isolations, I think you could recognize a Cole dance.



I believe that Kedelsky’s recollection of Cole’s teaching methods show Cole designed a technique class to enhance his dancer’s abilities to execute the isolation, grounded weight, and rigorous athleticism that appeared in his choreography. However, Kedelsky’s view that Cole did not create a technique was not solitary. A transcribed interview housed in the UCLA Special Collections Library archives, conducted by theater scholar Glenn Loney with Cole dancer Gwen Verdon on May 8, 1979, reveals Verdon’s belief that Jack Cole did not teach a technique: “…First of all, Jack didn’t teach a technique…but it [his class] will prepare you to do any kind of dancing or prepare you to be an athlete…” (Jack Cole Papers, Box 4 Folder 3) While Verdon’s statement conveys her viewpoint that Jack Cole didn’t teach a technique, her description of his class is in line with the fundamental principle that makes up technique class: specifically training the body to move with technical precision in any dance genre. The Integral Elements of Jazz Dance Technique

Kedelsky’s and Verdon’s statements highlight the difficulties of defining jazz dance as a technique rather than a style. To delve further into this discrepancy, I examined how Cole incorporated personal style as an integral part of his technique by viewing his choreography in Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s and by studying photographs of his dancers in the UCLA archives. My findings led me to believe that the realization of Cole’s dance technique, as well as current jazz dance, requires that personal style be integrated S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

into the execution of the movements. This belief was further supported by considering my experiences as a student, teacher, and choreographer of jazz dance. When I have taken or taught jazz classes, personal style is rarely separated from the training exercises used to enhance jazz dance technique. The same is true for every choreographic work of jazz dance I performed in my professional career. Personal style was so integral to the execution of jazz dance technique class and choreographic works that equal time was spent on describing the stylistic intent and technical execution of the movement.

always present at some location in the body; 2) The exacting precision of rhythmic isolation of any body part, either separately or in rhythmic juxtaposition; 3) The intent of the choreography executed with a distinctly personal flair. In other words, for current jazz dance and the work of Jack Cole to be jazz dance, there must be harmony between the dancer’s individual style, precise technical prowess, and an internalized perpetual rhythmic pulse. I believe these signature elements that were always present in Cole’s jazz dance technique and choreographic style have carried forward into jazz dance techniques today.

How does this personal style present itself as a partner to technique in jazz dance and the work of Jack Cole? Since style belongs to the person possessing it, a clear-cut definition is almost impossible to determine. However, we can see personal style embodied in the technique of how an individual tilts her head, initiates her shoulder, her hip, the twitch of her finger or circle of her wrist, and her unique way of initiating a step. In other words, style within jazz dance technique is a uniquely personal way of moving that cannot be separated from the physical execution of jazz dance. In this way, the work of Jack Cole combined style and technique to create a complete method of training, which has carried through into current jazz dance classes and choreography. I believe Cole’s methods of training are the integral elements present in current inceptions of jazz dance technique.

These fundamentals that help define Cole’s style are apparent in photographs of Cole dancers in the 1940s and 1950s in the UCLA archives. The dancers in these pictures exude an appearance of incredible ease in the body and calmness in demeanor.

The fundamentals of jazz dance technique present themselves in the following distinct ways: 1) An internalized rhythmic pulse

Jazz dance today carries on this stylistic tradition of Cole’s work by presenting itself in a myriad of ways: flashy, fun, sharp, funky, informal, fluid, grounded, emotional, gritty, syncopated, isolated, dynamic, detached, in-your-face, subtle, commercial, yet individual. Just as we can see Cole’s stylistic trademarks in his work “You Excite Me” featuring Rita Hayworth from Tonight and Every Night (20th Century Fox 1945), we can see the temporal through-line of his stylistic influences in works of subsequent choreographers. For example, Bob Fosse’s quirky “Who’s Got the Pain?” from Damn Yankees (Warner Bros. Pictures 1958) featuring Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, shows how Cole’s style influenced Fosse’s early choreography and was developed further in

...to be jazz dance, there must be harmony between the dancer’s individual style, precise technical prowess & an internalized perpetual rhythmic pulse. 21

Contained within all these photographs was... an evident through-line to current-day jazz class aesthetics... “

for her subsequent dance career. Students who studied with Cole later in his life also describe Cole’s classes as intense physical training incorporated with the underlying basics of his “cool” style. For example, on July 8, 2010, in an oral history interview I conducted with Janis Zetlen, a student who took a dance class from Cole in 1970 as an undergraduate at UCLA, Zetlen said:

Fosse’s later works, such as “Rich Man’s Frug” from Sweet Charity (Universal Pictures 1969), and how these same stylistic elements of unique personal flair are present in works of 21st-century jazz choreographers such as Frank Chaves (River North Chicago Dance Company) and Billy Siegenfeld (Jump Rhythm Jazz Project).

Jack Cole, who trains the youngsters [for dance work in films] suggested the permanent dancing troupe to Columbia three years ago because he felt that the time was definitely over when chorus boys and girls could get by on good looks and graceful posing. (Jack Cole Papers 2010, Box 4 Folder 5)

Just how did these fundamental movement principles which contributed to the development of Jack Cole’s technique, evolve into today’s many branches of jazz technique? To further investigate the details of these evolutions, I will now discuss the physical elements of Cole’s jazz dance technique and how these elements have had an impact on current inceptions of jazz dance class.

This journalist’s perspective indicates that prior to Cole’s training classes, dancers hired to work in musicals in the commercial film industry had less dancing ability than Cole’s choreography demanded. In order for these “chorus boys and girls” to rise to the level of difficulty required in Cole’s choreographic aesthetic, dancers needed to train in Cole’s studio classes. Rod Alexander, a Cole dancer in the Columbia Studio era, speaks about what took place in those studio classes with Jack Cole:

Jack Cole’s Jazz Dance Technique

Cole’s main belief behind the formation of this class was that in order to achieve the physical stamina and exacting style necessary to successfully perform his choreography, dancers needed to train the body in a specific way. In a transcribed interview with Glenn Loney in the UCLA archives, Ted Shawn dancer Barton Mumaw remembers Cole’s methods for training his dancers:



By full and meticulous instruction (in effect, dissection) of the movements, and by physical demonstration, the dancers learned at a snail’s pace until perfection was achieved… Jack’s attention to detail could be maddening. (Jack Cole Papers, Box 4 Folder 3)



Mumaw’s description of Cole’s teaching methodology solidifies that Cole instructed his dancers in a way that demanded they strive for perfection in execution of his movement. Another example of Cole’s reasoning for developing his teaching methodology comes from an uncredited dance journalist in a 1947 newspaper clipping in the UCLA archives: 22



Every day we studied body mechanics for about two hours. Then ballet for two hours, then lunch, after which we studied different ethnic forms of dance, including some tap. That was the general regimen. (Loney 1983, 133)

” “



Alexander’s description of Cole’s classes shows how Cole demanded his dancers study daily the different movement forms requisite to master his choreographic aesthetic. It is through this rigorous training routine in studio dance technique classes that Cole trained his dancers to execute any movements his choreography commanded. In this same vein, Gwen Verdon also credits Cole’s methods of dance training as a major influence on her successes as a dancer: “I think it’s about the toughest work I’ve ever done in my life [Cole’s classes]. And yet, for me, it was a preparation for everything and anything I’ve ever done since.” (Jack Cole Papers, Box 4 Folder 3) Verdon undoubtedly acknowledges Cole’s dance training methods as the mechanism that prepared her body

His class was like calisthenics… the music would start playing and you would roll down, walk out, do push-ups…come back up, put your arms over your head [while still folded over at the waist], and the idea was to touch your hands to the ground…and this is how class started. Then we did a lot of walking; and everything was very cool… We weren’t the graduate students, so it felt like he was going to walk us through the basics, and until we knew what those were, he wasn’t going to give us anything harder.



Zetlen’s remembrance tells us that Cole’s underlying physical principles of extreme athleticism mixed with stylistic attitude remained the core of his technique throughout his teaching and choreographic career. These two distinctive components of athleticism and stylistic attitude, integral to Cole’s technique classes, combined with a variety of movement sources to form current inceptions of jazz dance technique. One of the best chronicles of the different movement sources Cole borrowed from to create his technique comes from dance scholar Constance Valis Hill. In her article “From Bharata Natyam to Bop: Jack Cole’s ‘Modern’ Jazz Dance,” Valis Hill details how Cole combined the precise lines of ballet, the isolations of Bharata Natyam, the grounded, syncopated double-bounce from the African American vernacular dance the Lindy Hop, and the Afro-Cuban dances the rumba, mambo, and the cha-cha in his 1947 work, Sing, Sing, Sing. (Valis Hill 2001, 29-39) It is from these same components that S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

Cole configured his dance technique class in the early 1940s at Columbia Studios in Hollywood. Some referred to this training method as the “Jack Cole Technique,” and have described the class as a rigorous, systematic plan of physical training. (Loney 1984, 134) Indeed, the magazine articles and photographs from the UCLA archives show the nature of these methods. There are photographs of Cole teaching class during his tenure at Columbia Studios and at UCLA in the early 1970s. Within these photographs, dancers are revealed in varying positions that are quintessential to Jack Cole’s choreographic aesthetic. The dancers always have deeply bent knees with the weight of the body over the ball of the foot and the heels slightly lifted off the ground. The pelvis either is thrust forward slightly in front or behind the torso. Generally the position of the upper body is contained, with the shoulders just slightly behind the pelvis. The head is rarely straight on the spine, but tends to be tilted ear-toshoulder, or off to one side, and at times the chin is tucked and the gaze is lowered. Rarely is the position of the head, or the gaze of the eyes completely vertical or straight forward. These photographs also provide a sense of emotional stylistic intent expected of dancers in Cole’s classes. There is a sense of distinct emotional states from the dancers: detached awareness, intense concentration, flippant disregard, and ferocious disdain for some unseen entity. Contained within all these photographs was not only a glimpse into what it would have been like to take a Cole class, but an evident through-line to current-day jazz class aesthetics was apparent. Movements discernable in these photographs and detailed in Valis Hill’s descriptions of Cole’s work include isolation, syncopated footwork, quick shifts of weight, deeply bent knees, movements executed low to the ground, steps appropriated from cultural and vernacular dance, and precise musicality. While I know my own jazz dance classes incorporate these same movement S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

ingredients, I was curious to see how these same elements might be present in studio hip-hop, which I believe is an evolution of jazz dance. To investigate if my idea may be true, I participated in a hip-hop dance class at Westlake Dance Center in Seattle from Markeith Wiley on June 26, 2010. My field notes revealed striking similarities to my own teaching style of jazz dance technique:



The biggest similarities I noticed to my own teaching methodologies in jazz dance class were the use of isolations and yoga-based stretches in the warm-up. This part of class could have easily been my own, complete with moving straight through the warm-up without stopping to perfect a movement or give corrections. The combination at the end of class was also similar to my own jazz dance class as it utilized heavy amounts of rhythmically syncopated footwork. Every movement was quirky, specific, yet had room for individual personality to shine through. Wiley encouraged us to think more about how to incorporate our own sense of personality into the movement, rather than be solely focused on the steps... I cannot count the times I have said the same thing to my students.



While I acknowledge true hip-hop culture goes far beyond dance, the movements are rooted in African American dance traditions of syncopated footwork, use of isolation, and personal style. Through participation in Wiley’s studio hip-hop class, I observed that warm-up elements from Jack Cole’s jazz dance technique are also part of the studio hip-hop tradition. In addition to these embodied research discoveries, my research hypotheses were supported by the photographs and oral history interviews from the UCLA archives, oral history interviews conducted with former Cole students Spider Kedelsky and Janis Zetlen, and my experiences training with Cole-style dancer Tinka Gutrick. I will now address how these sources confirmed the still-present movement elements of Cole’s classes in current jazz dance classes.

Current Jazz Dance Technique

Today’s jazz classes incorporate distinct movement exercises that Cole used in his technique classes. First, warm-up poses borrowed from yoga, such as downward dog, upward dog, twisting triangle, and warrior one. These warm-up stretches are generally followed by the isolation of the head, shoulders, ribs, hips, knees, hands, fingers, and eyes. Isolation exercises are followed by elements from ballet technique, such as grands pliés in first and second position, in parallel on two legs and on one leg, tendus, dégagés, développés, and battements. These exercises prepare the body to execute various choreographic demands, such as deep-knee hinges, knee slides, the use of isolation, the grounded weight of African American vernacular dances, and the turns, jumps, kicks, and balances borrowed from ballet, all of which Cole used in his works of choreography. All of these features, which are key ingredients to current jazz classes, were initially integrated by Cole into a complete training method for dancers during his tenure as choreographer for Columbia Pictures during the 1940s and 1950s. (Loney 1983, 132) I assert that Cole was the first to incorporate these previously discussed methods of jazz dance technique and stylistic principles and pass them on to the core group of dancers that worked with him in Hollywood and Broadway. These dancers, such as Gwen Verdon, Jerome Robbins, and Bob Fosse, would go on to influence future generations of teachers and choreographers in the idiom of jazz dance. To further reiterate, we can consider Alexander’s, Verdon’s, and Zetlen’s descriptions of Cole’s classes and the photographs depicting students rigorously working on classroom exercises similar to those common in current jazz classes. These considerations confirm that Cole’s technique class became an important turning point in the evolution of jazz dance technique. Through his creation of his dance technique, Jack Cole paved the way for future choreographers to build upon his work training dancers in jazz dance genres. 23

About the Lead Photo: Jack Cole’s link to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival began in 1931, when he was one of the first four dancers brought by Ted Shawn to this retreat in Western Massachusetts. He returned to teach four decades later and is shown here, teaching in the studio. His principles continue to be taught in that same studio today as part of the Pillow’s Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance program, and many Colerelated films and videos may be accessed in the Jacob’s Pillow Archives. See www.jacobspillow.org for more information.

Conclusion

In summary, I have argued that Jack Cole created a dance technique whose elements became the foundations for the evolution of current studio jazz dance classes and works of choreography. I have discussed the three elements of how an internalized rhythmic pulse, exacting precision of rhythmic isolation, and distinct personal flair combine to make up the integral elements of Cole’s dance technique and how these features define the stylistic looks and technical practices of current techniques of jazz dance. Further, I have offered that I believe these integral elements in jazz dance technique first became apparent in Cole’s choreographic works of the 1940s and 1950s. Lastly, I have addressed how Cole’s physique was a driving factor in determining the specific technical and stylistic components that he incorporated into his jazz dance class, and how these influences can still be distinguished in current studio jazz classes and works of choreography. Through these arguments, I have shown that Jack Cole indeed created a method of dance technique training that melds style as an integral element in the accurate physical execution of current jazz dance technique. Thus, I maintain these definable foundations of Jack Cole’s work qualify current jazz dance and the work of Jack Cole as technical dance forms worthy of deeper recognition and study in the scholarly dance community. © Paula J. Peters 2013

bibliography

Armstrong, Tre, Linda Boahen and Michelle Odle. Breakin’ The Making of a Hip Hop Dancer. DVD. Directed by Elizabeth St. Philip. Toronto, Canada, 2005. Blyth, Ann, Sebastian Cabot and Dolores Gray. Kismet, VHS. Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Hollywood, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1955. Boross, Bob. “All That’s Jazz.” Dance Magazine. 73:8, (August 1999): 54-58. Broussard, Paula. “Father of Theatrical Jazz Dance, Jack Cole.” Dance Teacher. 28:6 (June, 2006): 82-87. Chaves, Frank. “Take a Seat.” River North Dance Company. Chicago, IL: 2005. 1 min., 14 sec. Video clip, http://www.rivernorthchicago.com/ repertoire.asp#takeseat (accessed August 15, 2010). Cole, Clayton. “It’s Gone Silly!” In Giordano, Anthology of American Jazz Dance, 72-73. Cole, Jack and Chita Rivera. “Beale Street Blues.” Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows, 1964. 5 min., 14 sec. Video clip. http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZcwwcPvoCjU (accessed May 6, 2010).

About the Author Paula J. Peters teaches at Cornish Preparatory Dance, Dance Fremont, University of Washington, and Pacific Lutheran University. She performed professionally with Spectrum Dance Theater for 14 years, performing and restaging works by choreographers of national prominence. Her professional endeavors include serving as a guest artist with Catherine Cabeen, the implementation of pedagogies which serve the 21st-century dancer, and the co-direction of Contemporary Jazz Dance Project, Seattle. She received her M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Washington in 2011. 24

______Carnival in Flanders. Ed Sullivan Show. 1963; 2 min., 50 sec. Video clip. http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=G21AKiyX_bc (accessed June 27, 2010). ______Ron Field, Jim Hutchenson, Tom Osteen. Sing, Sing, Sing. Perry Como Show; 1 min., 58 sec. Video clip. http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=C6Cb7YYJDxw&feature=related (accessed June 27, 2010). Cranbourne, Nancy. 2010. Interviewed by Paula Peters. Digital audio recording. July 7. Cranbourne residence, Seattle WA. Dailey, Dannul and Tinka Gutrick. “A Tribute to Jack Cole.” American Jazz Classics. VHS. Directed by Dale A. Merrill. Seattle, WA: New Vision Video, 1993. Delamater, Jerome. Dance in the Hollywood Musical. Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research Press. 1981. 191-199. Doo, Shaba and Todd Bridges. Breakin’ vs. Krumpin’. DVD. Directed by Kokie Nassim. 2005. Dehn, Mura. The Spirit Moves: A Jazz Dance Documentary, VHS, Vol. 1 Pt 1: 1900-1950; Vol. 2

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Pt. 2: 1950-1975. Copyright by Eiko and Takashi Koma Otake. W. Summerville, MA: The Tango Catalogue. Eshwar, Jayalakshmi. Bhratanatyam: How to. Delhi, India: B.R. Publishing Corporation. 2002. Fosse, Bob and Gwen Verdon. “Who’s Got the Pain?” Damn Yankees. Choreography by Bob Fosse. Directed by George Abbott. Hollywood, CA: Warner Bros. Pictures, 1958. 3 min., 42 sec. Video clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIiZuAVZH4w&feature=related (accessed August 13, 2010). ______“A Snake in the Grass.” The Little Prince. Choreography by Bob Fosse. Directed by Stanley Donen. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 1974. 7 min., 36 sec. Video clip, http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=L8mJsgPj1iU (accessed August 18, 2010). Giordano, Gus, ed. Anthology of American Jazz Dance, Evanston, IL: Orion Publishing House, 1975. Gold, Sylviane. “On Broadway.” Dance Magazine. 78:8 (August 2004): 76-77. Grable, Betty and Gwen Verdon. “No Talent Joe.” Meet Me After The Show, 1951, 5 min., 49 sec. Video Clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEEoXJRlZHA (accessed July 4, 2010). Hayworth, Rita. “You Excite Me.” Tonight and Every Night. Choreography by Jack Cole, Directed by Victor Saville. Hollywood, CA: 20th Century Fox, 1945. 3 min., 10 sec. Video clip, http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=2B6Mslm1ej8 (accessed July 10, 2010). Hill, Constance Valis. “From Bharata Natyam to Bop: Jack Cole’s ‘Modern’ Jazz Dance.” Dance Research Journal, 33:2 (Winter, 2001): 29-39. ______“Jazz Modernism.” In Moving Words: Rewriting Dance. Edited by Gay Morris. New York: Routledge. 1996. 227-242. ______“Swing to Bop: ‘Modern’ Jazz Dance.”In Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press. 2010. 158-160. Jack Cole Papers. Special Collections Library. University of California, Los Angeles. Boxes 1-6. Kaye Danny, Ethel Martin, George Martin, Matt Mattox and Gwen Verdon, “Happy Ending.” On the Riviera. Choreography by Jack Cole. Directed

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by Walter Lang. 20th Century Fox, 1951. 3 min., 41 sec. Video clip. http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=1lLRuLnBo4Q&feature=related (accessed August 8, 2010).

O’Shea, Janet. “Performing Politics in an Age of Globalization.” At Home in the World: Bharata Natyam on the Global Stage. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2007. 1-25.

______“Happy Ending.” On the Riviera. Choreography by Jack Cole. Directed by Walter Lang. 20th Century Fox, 1951. Photograph. Life. com. (accessed August 8, 2010).

Russell, Jane. “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?” Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Choreography by Jack Cole, Directed by Howard Hanks. Hollywood, CA: 20th Century Fox, 1953. 3 min., 49 sec. Video clip http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=pthokb18V7U (accessed August 8, 2010).

Kedelsky, Spider. 2010. Interviewed by Paula Peters. Digital audio recording. July 16. Kedelsky residence, Seattle WA. Kisselgoff, Anna. “Recalling an Innovator of Film Choreography.” New York Times. (Feb 7, 1994): C18. Loney, Glenn. Unsung Genius: The Passion of Dancer-Choreographer Jack Cole. New York: Franklin Watts, 1984. 132-134. Martin, John. “The Dance: Jack Cole.” In Giordano, Anthology of American Jazz Dance, 27-28. Mattox, Matt and Gene Casey. Jazz Dance of Matt Mattox. CBS Broadcast Center, 1960; 27 min. From Aviva Films Ltd., 2007. Streaming Video. http://daiv.alexanderstreet.com.offcampus.lib. washington.edu/View/394439 (accessed May 6, 2010). McLean, Adrienne L. “The Thousand Ways There Are to Move: Camp and Oriental Dance in the Hollywood Musicals of Jack Cole.” In Visions of the East: Orientalism in Film. Edited by Matthew Bernstein and Gaylyn Studlar. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997. 130-157. Monaghan, Terry. “Jive.” Dancing Times. 97:1160, (Apr 2007). 101-103. MacLaine, Shirley. Sweet Charity. Choreographed and directed by Bob Fosse. Hollywood, CA: Universal Studios, 1969. Monroe, Marilyn and Jane Russell. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Choreography by Jack Cole. The Diamond Collection DVD. Directed by Howard Hawks. Hollywood, CA: 20th Century Fox, 1953. Monroe, Marilyn. “Heat Wave.” There’s No Business Like Show Business. Choreographed by Jack Cole. Directed by Walter Lang. Hollywood, CA: 20th Century Fox, 1954. 4 min., 10 sec. Video clip. http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Krl_pXXfKEI (accessed August 8, 2010).

Savran, David. “America’s Music.” In: Highbrow/ Lowdown: Theater, Jazz and the Making of the New Middle Class. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press, 2009. 12-39. Schloss, Joseph G. “We Have to be Exaggerated: Aesthetics.” Foundation: B-boys, B-girls, and Hip-Hop Culture in New York. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 68-93. Smith, Lucy. “In Between Spaces: An Investigation into the embodiment of culture in Contemporary Dance.” Research In Dance Education. 9:1, (March 2008). 79-86. Spectrum Dance Theater. “A Tribute to Jack Cole.” American Jazz Classics. Program. Directed by Dale A. Merrill. Seattle: September 1993. Sweeney, John. “The History of Jive, Part I.” Dance Today. 51:72, (September 2007). 35-38. Thompson, Robert Farris. “An Aesthetic of the Cool.” African Arts. 7:1 (Autumn 1973). 40-43+64-67+89-91. Tommy and Charlie. “Hip Hop.” So You Think You Can Dance-BBC One. United Kingdom: BBC One 2010. 1 min., 44 sec. Video clip http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=-o8we0lJptM (accessed August 15, 2010). Verdon, Gwen. Gwen Verdon Montage. Partial transcription, 5 min., 20 sec., - 7 min., 55 sec. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_elSBAd1hGw&feature=related (accessed July 2, 2010). Williams, Drid. “In the Shadow of Hollywood Orientalism: Authentic East Indian Dancing.” Visual Anthropology, 17.1 (2004): 69-98. Zetlen, Janis. 2010. Interviewed by Paula Peters. Digital audio recording. July 8. Peters’ residence, Seattle WA.

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Highlights 13 reviewers recall 2013 Marcie Sillman Mariko Nagashima Moira Macdonald Michael Upchurch Dean Speer Alice Kaderlan Melody Elena Datz Anna Waller Rosemary Jones Gigi Berardi Ivy Raines Rachel Gallaher Sandra Kurtz

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marcie sillman Marcie Sillman is a Senior Host at KUOW Radio. She frequently covers dance and other arts for NPR, national magazines, and local publications. She also writes a blog that features dance coverage, called And Another Thing.

2013 Dance Highlights

Andrew Bartee

PNB corps member performing a solo by Anabelle Lopez Ochoa called L’Effleuré in a Whim W’Him production. The solo wasn’t created for Bartee, but this lean redhead just owned the dance and mesmerized the audience.

Bamberg Fine Art photos

Ezra Dickinson

Dancer ’s moving solo Mother for you I made this. Dickinson’s mother suffers from mental illness and at one point in her life was homeless on the Seattle streets. This solo was performed in the evening on those same streets and was an elegant meld of street art, classical performance, and tribute. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I saw it.

I have

3 highlights:

Emergence

angela sterling photos; crystal pite at far left: Lindsay Thomas photo

Crystal Pite’s at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Saw it three times: amazing every time. A complete work of art.

toP: Kelly O/the stranger photo; bottom 2: tim summers photos 28

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Mariko Nagashima Mariko Nagashima is the editor and site manager of the local website SeattleDances. In addition to writing about dance, she also performs and teaches in the Seattle area.  

Brilliant in its simplicity, Jérôme Bel’s

Cédric Andrieux brought a dancer’s perspective to the stage by having the titular Andrieux reflect on his career, tell stories from his life, and dance memorable choreographic snippets. Dancers easily empathized with Andrieux, but the way his stories humanized the pursuit of dance made it relatable to any audience member. Humble and humorous, it offered a genuine and rarely seen perspective on the culture of dance. An homage to friend who was murdered,

TRE

Filled with zany characters, Dayna Hanson’s mockumentary-style film

The

Improvement Club follows a rag-tag

performance group’s efforts to tour their production. It’s always fun to see familiar faces on the big screen, and the film takes many of Hanson’s real experiences and cast members from her show Gloria’s Cause to goofy hyperbole. It’s a quirky and surprising feature that also manages to depict the realities of art-making.

Though KT Niehoff’s

New Animals’ reeled with grief, but was filled with grit, heart, and Markeith Wiley’s always intriguing fusion of hip-hop and modern dance. It was raw, real, and deeply moving.

Collision

Theory was a series of events that spanned a year, the final performance at On the Boards created a distinct experience from the rest. Stories were told, songs were sung, and the dancing unfolded organically both in front of and among the viewers. The evening achieved the specific audience–performance intimacy that the project sought.

Pristine purity, mathematical precision,

classical aplomb—Concerto Barocco exemplifies all three.

Balanchine’s brilliant choreography defines both the subtleties and possibilities of classical ballet. Carla Körbes and Carrie Imler were transcendent as the leading ladies, but the corps de ballet’s breathtaking synchronicity stole the show.

Heart Content. New-ish company CabinFever took over Capitol Hill’s historic Stimson-Green Mansion and created dance installations throughout the house, inspired by the home’s past residents. Thoughtful, nuanced, and wholly unique, the piece resonated with tenderness and beauty that perfectly matched its setting.

A completely thrilling ballet, Crystal Pite’s

Emergence

literally kept me on the edge of my seat; I never wanted it to end. Pite’s take on the hive mentality gave PNB’s flocks of ballerinas a sinister look, and Andrew Bartee and Rachel Foster perfectly mastered Pite’s signature elastic maneuverings. It’s a stroke of choreographic brilliance that stays compelling from start to finish. 30

clockwise from left: Benjamin Kasulke, Angela Sterling, Herman Sorgeloos, Joy Jacobs, Megumi Shauna Aria, Sebastien Scandiuzzi & Linas Phillips, Angela Sterling S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

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Moira Macdonald Since 2001, Moira Macdonald has been the movie critic at The Seattle Times, where she also writes about dance (mostly ballet) and books.

Twyla Tharp

A glorious fall frenzy of : Waiting at the Station at PNB and The Fugue at UW Chamber Dance Company. 

Carla Körbes

’ triumphant opening night Odette/Odile in PNB’s Swan Lake.

Trockadero

Speaking of Swan Lake: Les Ballets de Monte Carlo’s boisterous rendition at Meany Hall—hilarious and beautifully danced.

Kaori Nakamura

Carrie Imler & Carla Körbes, two brilliant but very different dancers who

(who, in her forties, like Margot Fonteyn, wonderfully

nonetheless beautifully mirrored each other, in PNB’s joyous Concerto Barocco.

found the essence of a teenager) and

James Moore

as star-crossed lovers in PNB’s Roméo et Juliette.

Wish for 2014 More Balanchine and Robbins at PNB! Also, would love to see the return of Paul Taylor Dance Co., Alvin Ailey, the Trocks (always!)—and more touring ballet companies. (Joffrey? Suzanne Farrell Ballet? Royal Winnipeg? Please?)

pnb photos by Angela sterling. Trockadero photo by Sascha Vaughn. Chamber dance company photo by Steve Korn. 32

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Michael Upchurch Michael Upchurch is a general arts writer for The Seattle Times, and has had quite the modern-dance obsession ever since seeing Ballet Rambert perform Glen Tetley’s Pierrot Lunaire and Christopher Bruce’s Wings in 1974.

Whim W ’Him: Olivier Wevers’ troupe gave birth to a bona fide star this year: Pacific Northwest Ballet corps

Andrew Bartee, who in two member

solos­—Wevers’ More and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s L’Effleuré—appeared to have a whole orchestra of muscle-movement “instruments” at his command under his skin, each with its own individual voice and inflection. Together, they drew the most extraordinary wit and rhythmic music from every inch of his lanky, fluid body.

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Ashani Dances: Iyun Ashani Harrison’s fledgling troupe was one of the big surprises in 2013. His dancers, most of them Cornish-trained, put all their youthful dance prowess to intoxicating use in Harrison’s Artifact, a joyous, sassy Afro-Caribbean homage to the traditional dances of Harrison’s native Jamaica. Local composer-percussionist Ben Morrow penned the dance-propulsive score.

Ezra Dickinson: In what was surely

: This Montreal dance company brought its version of The Rite of Spring, choreographer Marie Chouinard’s signature work from 1993, to the UW World Dance Series early in the year and it was a knockout. Chouinard’s bare-chested, paint-daubed dancers drew audiences into a realm where birds, horses, stags, and other creatures seemed to lurk, lurch, and prowl in human guise.

the most unusual dance project of 2013, Dickinson made the streets around Seattle’s Greyhound bus station his stage set for this mediation on his relationship with his schizophrenic mother. The headphone audio guide had its practical side, ensuring you could hear the sounds and music Dickinson had assembled with composer Paurl Walsh. But it also stood in as a kind of illnessmimicking auditory hallucination, cutting you off from your normal surroundings.

Seattle Dance Project

Daniel Linehan: Olympia-born,

Compagnie Marie Chouinard

snaking from top left: Bamberg Fine Art, Jason Somma, Tino Tran, Steve Korn, Nicolas Ruel, Tim Summers, Tino Tran, Angela Sterling, Joseph Lambert/Jazzy Photo, Nate Watters/Velocity Dance Center, Michelle Bates

from 5th glimpsed what goes on in dancers’ minds in a career where nervous fixation on body image is practically a job requirement, while Gloria made clear what all that selfdoubt and body-obsession are in aid of: transcendent stage experiences delivered with skills that very few people can master.

: SDP director Timothy Lynch served up an all-Jason Ohlberg program this year, and the results couldn’t have been more satisfying. Departure S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

UW-educated, Belgium-based Linehan came to Seattle for a show at Velocity Dance S eattle D ance A nnual 2 0 1 3

Center that, despite its unlikely premise (spinning in a tight circle while repeating snippets of text for 30-odd minutes?), offered a visceral thrill. Linehan’s Not About Everything was a minimalist spectacle that confounded expectations and elicited knowing laughs as it pricked holes in every possible approach to existence.

Chamber Dance Company: Every year, Hannah Wiley’s dance-preservation showcase is a highlight of the local dance scene, and this year her restaging of Twyla Tharp’s The Fugue was a keen, intricate pleasure. No matter what the dance style, Wiley makes it feel vital and fresh.

Spectrum Dance Theater: Two shout-outs to Spectrum—first for the five-man chorus that kicked, clapped, and shouted its way in punchy unison through

Prodigal; and then for Spectrum’s Shadou Mintrone & Jade Solomon Curtis who deliver Donald Byrd’s

the goods every time. Curtis is cool, sharp, switchblade-quick ... a perfect blend of elegance and edge. Mintrou is warmer, at least on the surface, but with trickster twists to her that make her every bit as wily a performer as Curtis.

Crystal Pite at PNB: Pite’s own troupe, Kidd Pivot, has knocked out

local dance fans in recent years with its shows at On the Boards. So it was a thrill to see her operate on a truly symphonic scale at Pacific

Emergence

Northwest Ballet with ,a work inspired by the “swarm intelligence” of insect communities. Along with the pleasure of seeing PNB dancers immerse themselves in the fluid ricochet-action of Pite’s choreography, Emergence offered the year’s most spectacular visuals, courtesy of scenic designer Jay Gower Taylor and lighting designer Alan Brodie.

Lelavision

: Is it dance? Acrobatics? A highly eccentric musical recital? It hardly matters, because the physical hijinks this Vashon Island troupe got up to in Heavy Metal DëVices (performed on such instruments as the Teetertone, Violcano, and Metalphor, all built by Lelavision co-director Ela Lamblin) were physical theater at its best. A splendid way to end the dance year.

Dean Speer Since 2002, Dean Speer has written for www.criticaldance.org and Ballet-Dance Magazine. Author of On Technique, he teaches dance locally and adjudication classes for NW Dance Intensive. Speer trained here, in Cannes, Paris, and New York, and performed with Bellevue Civic Ballet, Seattle Ballet Ensemble, Repertory Dancers Northwest, and American Theatrical Motion Art. He is also on the UW School of Law’s administrative staff. 

I’m always on the lookout for good choreography and am thrilled when we find it. Most, if not all, dancer performances are good to excellent, but the level of choreography can and does vary widely. The principal pitfall is that choreographers often will have really good, if not inspired ideas, but get into trouble playing them out and developing them into solid dances. All dance-makers should read Doris Humphrey’s The Art of Making Dances. Two of her best and most pithy sayings are “All dances are too long.” & “Never leave the ending to the end!”

2013 Dance Highlights

AIR Twyla Dance

.

at PNB;

Men in Balletprogram, March 7 at PNB studios; ARC

Abundant.

Best choreography

Ashani Dances  

Best Annual Program

Chop Shop

Amazing Creativit y from Students

Ballet Word Play (see page 148)  Dancers w/ the Most Colorful Socks

Wish for 2014

Whim W’Him

I’m sure all of us would agree we’d like to see more opportunities for dancers and choreographers, including better funding, pay, and benefits for artists.

Best Sets & Props

Whim W’Him

WhoM to Watch in 2014

Best Creative Marketing & Use of Social Media

Rebecca Greenfield ,

PNB & Whim W’Him

currently a senior at Cornish College. This woman can move!

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left–right: Bennyroyce Dance Productions/ chop shop photo by Quinn Batson; Joseph Lambert/Jazzy Photo; Angela Sterling; Paul Sanders; Bamberg Fine Art S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

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Alice Kaderlan

clockwise, starting from left: Angela Sterling, Don Perdue, Steve Korn, Angela Sterling, Todd Rosenberg, Bamberg Fine Art, Angela Sterling, Andrea Basile, John Hogg

Alice Kaderlan is a dance critic and writer; she has written for 35 years for newspapers and radio stations throughout the U.S., including Seattle P-I, KUOW, Everett Herald, Crosscut.com, and seattlepi.com. 

Most memorable work:

Crystal Pite’s

Emergence

Other highlights: Twyla Tharp’s

Waiting At the

Station at PNB

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago at STG PNB’s

Concerto Barocco

Whim W’Him’s performances AXIS at UW World Series Chamber Dance company (always fascinating)

Gregory Maqoma (his dancing was amazing, not so much the overall production) Set against Jay Gower Taylor’s towering hive-like backdrop and Owen Belton’s brooding soundscape, Emergence contains spellbinding imagery, intense physicality, and psychological depth. PNB’s classically trained dancers have taken remarkably well to Pite’s grounded style and every one of them—from principals through corps members—danced with gusto. The result is that Emergence wowed PNB’s opening night audience as it had attendees at the ballet’s National Ballet of Canada premiere in 2009. —excerpted from Kaderlan’s review at seattlepi.com

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MOMIX at UW World Series

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Melody Elena Datz Wish for 2014

Melody Elena Datz is a freelance dance critic for The Stranger and a regular contributor to STANCE—Velocity Dance Center’s journal of choreographic culture. She trained and performed with Victoria Ballet Theater and The Joffrey Ballet School’s preprofessional division. Datz currently works as a research ethics analyst at the University of Washington. 

For 2014, my attention will be on the audiences as well as performance. I want to see what people are enjoying, what makes them look down at their phones instead of onstage, what makes people ask questions, and what whets artistic appetites. I’m excited to examine this at everything from Kaori Nakamura’s final season at PNB to the new collaborations between Velocity teaching artist Kate Wallich and PNB corps de ballet member Andrew Bartee, from Cornish College of the Arts student performances to zoe | juniper’s On the Boards Northwest Series premiere of BeginAgain.

In my April 2013 article about classical ballet companies’ programming, “Swan Lake is so G-d Boring,” I lamented some popular perceptions of dance and questioned the purpose behind continued showcasing of older story ballets and works that lack identifiability with modern culture—a habit which ensures a lack of younger and new dance audiences.

Amy O’Neal

It was the exact opposite of that stellar 2012 show, ’s The Most Innovative, Daring, and Original Piece of Dance/ Performance You Will See This Decade, which demonstrated the integral relationships between hip hop, classical, and contemporary styles of dance in a production that was educational, highly entertaining, and touching for audiences new to and familiar with dance performance.

Ezra Dickinson’s Mother for you I made this literally brought dance into the streets of downtown Seattle. Instead of merely demonstrating his work to an audience, Dickinson equalized the choreography with its historical and emotional foundations, the music, and the venue—creating a work that was both a product of his environment and a gift to it.

I’m excited to see dance become more accessible to the general, non-theatergoing public.

The use of nudity in dance is also forefront in my mind as I think about recent developments in dance performance. Granted, naked bodies are not new to dance, but two recent performances managed to very successfully integrate birthday suits with choreography and social messages that were in themselves much larger than the Several 2013 productions gave me hope that the Seattle dance scene is and can continue

Frédérick Gravel

them as artistic mediums. The early 2014 On the Boards performance of ’s Usually Beauty Fails spoke loudly about nudity and sex, equating gestures and body parts normally associated with sexual intercourse with other mannerisms. Gravel’s choreography created a conversation about sex and love and communication in ways that eased the potentially uncomfortable “ick” factor of onstage nudity while simultaneously easing some of the mystery of dance into a very accessible, digestible piece of performing art.

to attract a broader audience.

The Quartet

shock of seeing flapping genitalia on stage. Heather Kravas’ featured four naked dancers without putting their nakedness centerstage. Rather, she was able to make simple yet powerful statements about how society and audiences objectify performers’ bodies before considering

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Anna Waller

Carrie Imler

Hot Mess

zany

Self-produced by choreographers Kaitlin McCarthy, Jenny Peterson, and Rachel Grant, Hot Mess took a smart risk in not taking itself too seriously—a welcome change in tone for an art form steeped in the dark, serious, and unsmiling. The show’s subtitle, Modern Dance Mayhem, says it all.

Cherdonna and Lou’s

eloquent

My Obviously Unsuccessful Lifestyle. Cherdonna and Lou have called it quits as a full-time partnership, but this show, full of friends on stage and in the audience, was a poignant finale to the duo’s wacky, absurd performance. Luckily, Cherdonna and Lou’s alteregos (Jody Kuehner and Ricki Mason) have some great individual projects in the works.

’s Black Swan at PNB’s 40th-anniversary Season Encore performance. Carrie Imler upstaged everyone at this gala, and it wasn’t just the swan arms she added to the requisite fouettées. Instead, her character permeated every aspect of her technical performance—including the flashy “tricks”—coupling virtuosity with acting skill in a powerful way, especially for a gala performance.

fierce

Anna Waller is a dance writer, performer, and teacher in the Seattle area. She is an editor of the website SeattleDances.

Autopsy of Love

The nineteenth and twenty-first centuries collided in this especially fine example of dance theater from Donald Byrd. Spectrum’s virtuosic dancers became part of a greater artistic whole that included a baritone singing Schumann live, an actor reciting Heine, and recordings by Amy Winehouse—all in an autopsy theater.

poignant

Constellation HalfRemembered This 2013 performance series from Umami Performance (Aiko Kinoshita and Aaron Swartzman) wove its way through the act of memory. While certain threads carried through the series, multiple venues and a shifting group of collaborators helped cast a dreamlike quality over the events, leaving you eager for the project’s next iteration. left–right: Bruce Tom, JENNY PETERSON, Sandra Brierley, Eric Paguio, Angela Sterling, Herman Sorgeloos, Nate Watters, J. Lambert/Jazzy photo 42

Cédric Andrieux

Showing Out: Contemporary Black Dance The Central District Forum for Art and Ideas presented this performance, which served as platform for Black artists to hone their choreographic craft under the mentorship of curator Donald Byrd. Seattle could use more programs like this: they give artists the chance to experiment, get more community organizations (like the CDF) involved, and create an everbroader dance audience. S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

Jérôme Bel’s . Bel has now choreographed three solos that center on the lives of career dancers, giving voice to an underrepresented part of dance history. Using plain language and choreographic excerpts, Andrieux told a story that you didn’t need a dance background to appreciate. This is the kind of work that helps build new audiences for dance. S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

Iron Daisies

. Entropy’s Alicia and Daniel Mullikin, the collaborative choreographer-composer duo, created one of the most moving works of art I saw in 2013. Though the piece centered around grief and loss, it also incorporated the beauty and sense of relief that so often accompany these inevitable human experiences. 43

Rosemary Jones Rosemary Jones has written about theater and dance in Seattle for more than 20 years. Her dance column currently can be found at Examiner.com. Links to her many books (including City of the Dead) and her theater column can be found at www.rosemaryjones.com.

genius...warmth, humor & sass

Every year is so full of “wow ” moments on stage that it

is hard to limit the choices to just one or two —because the minute that you make that list, you’ll be beating your head against the dance floor for forgetting a certain polished performance or a newly emerging dancer. Still, years later, I am sure that I will remember the joy of listening to the certifiably genius choreographer

Twyla Tharp lecturing with warmth,

humor, and sass at McCaw Hall. She took a spellbound audience at Pacific Northwest Ballet through the creative process behind Waiting at the Station, made us look with new eyes at members of the company, and evoked our laughter when she literally floored herself in response to one question. As much as I look forward to the return of Waiting at the Station in a future PNB season, I know that night will never come again and I feel very lucky that I got to be there. left: Angela Sterling photo. video stills above by Lindsay Thomas, PNB.

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Gigi Berardi

PERFORMER:

PERFORMANCE:

PERFORMANCE:

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s

Roméo et Juliette (Jean Christophe Maillot). Beautiful interpretation this time around, none as spectacular as the onenight-only performance of guest artists Lucien Postlewaite and Noelani Pantastico. In Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette, counterbalance is de rigeur, and this couple reigns supreme, but Pantastico can still mesmerize with her Act II balance, contemplating the fauxpoison she is soon to take.

Olivier Wevers

’ Psychological drama highlight— schizophrenic colleague in More, or his compelling couples in The Sofa, so present in the strangeness of it all.

PERFORMER:

Shadou Mintrone (Spectrum Dance Theater) stood out in Khambatta’s Truth and Betrayal. She was dutifully fierce in games of trust and mistrust, portraying steady determination as well as high drama. PERFORMER:

Chelsea Adomaitis

(PNB). Adomaitis can torque her upper body in astonishing ways, as with Peacock in Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker. This season, she breezily flaunted her length in Twyla Tharp’s Waiting at the Station. Intensity, technicality, speed, stamina, genuineness. She’s around for awhile.

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE:

KyliÁn & Pite in November at PNB. One of the top five programs in

PERFORMANCE:

(Whim W’Him season opener in January): Duet in Anabelle Ochoa Lopez’s Crave. Guest artist Lucien Postlewaite (on loan from Les Ballets de Monte Carlo) and Lara Seefeldt danced an intimate pas de deux, outrageous for its boldness. Looking sharp, off-balance, the couple kept a tight bond. Disjointed music added to the jigsaw puzzle of it all. Magic. Also: Ochoa’s other piece, Before After (pictured above), a heartbreaking duet between Postlewaite and Ochoa. whim w’Him photos by Bamberg Fine Art. PNB photos by Angela Sterling. Spectrum photo by tino tran. 46

Andree Bartee

(PNB). Bartee’s The versatile been featured in many of the ballets that PNB and Whim W’Him presented in 2013. He’s elastic, he’s strong, he’s ever so skilled. He’s breathtaking.

Founding co-editor of Kinesiology and Medicine for Dance, Gigi Berardi is also assistant editor for the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, contributing writer/ editor at Dance Magazine, and a teacher at Western Washington University. Author of Finding Balance: Fitness, Training, and Health for a Lifetime in Dance, Berardi’s work has also appeared in journals, magazines, blogs (including 4dancers.org and Finding Balance ), newspapers, and on KSKA radio. Berardi’s graduate degrees include an MA in dance from UCLA.

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the almost 20 years that I have been viewing and reviewing the company. Highlights were PNB premieres: Forgotten Land (Jirí Kylián) and Emergence (Crystal Pite). PNB Orchestra also was in top form. Highlights: Rachel Foster and Margaret Mullin as the insect creatures emerging from the depths in Crystal Pite’s Emergence. Carli Samuelson breaking out and through in everything. Picture-perfect Kaori Nakamura, Jonathan Porretta. (I wish they had danced more, together, in 2013. That star pairing shouldn’t be relegated only to Coppélia.) All the Petite Mort (Kylián) dancers, who lived and breathed the ballet’s roles. In Sechs Tänze (Kylián), the Carrie Imler, Leah Merchant, Rachel Foster, Kylee Kitchens crew: mesmerizing. In Forgotten Land, every single dancer made that piece come alive: haunting with a capital H. Week Two, virtually all the corps dancers in first-time roles: Bravo, Brava. 47

ivy raines Ivy Raines has been a part of the TeenTix Press Corps since late 2012, covering arts and culture events around the Seattle area. Currently in high school, Raines is also working on her Associate of Arts degree at Edmonds Community College. She has been a dancer for 10 years, studying modern, lyrical, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and ballet. 

Wish for 2014 May 2014 bring underground talent from the streets to the stage.

Whom to Watch in 2014 Aaron Gordon Artistic Director of Electriq Dance. He has talent for fusing hip-hop with contemporary dance, leading to unforgettable performances. Gordon was nominated as RAW’s 2012 natural-born artist for his work with Electriq Dance. Electriq Dance has performed at International Fashion Showcase at Showbox SODO and at Dance This at the Paramount.

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Nutcracker is that treasured piece of jewelry passed through generations with the ability to maintain pristine condition. Given the privilege to go backstage before a Friday night showing, I spoke with the costume curator, who walked me through the process of maintaining and preserving Nutcracker costumes throughout the years. Though the story and costumes remain classic, PNB is consistent in spicing up the performances each year.

Shorecrest’s Hip Hop’s Physical Poetry Showcase

The Seattle dance area is oozing with artistic talent: art, theater, music, and yes, dance (which is unfortunately most often overlooked). What many don’t realize is dance talent flows within the veins of our Emerald City. From McCaw Hall to the streets of downtown, you will find:

This is not your ordinary high school dance team performance. This past season Shorecrest brought dance from all over the Northwest, having styles anywhere from tango to tap. Some performing companies included: Alchemy Tap Project, Audacity Cru (pictured below in blue), Kontagious Movement, Electriq Dance, Gotta Dance, Seattle Tap Company. This is an annual performance in January that not only exposes Shorecrest High School’s nationally proclaimed hip-hop team (shown above, and also below in green and red), but several other underground companies with incredible talent.

Audacit y Cru Hailing from Lacey, WA, Audacity Cru has been a rapidly growing name around the city since 2010. In the past three years, they have competed in World of Dance Seattle as well as Prelude Northwest. Their incredible talent and stage presence makes for a memorable performance.

Seattle cannot stop dancing.

PNB photo by angela sterling. Hip-hop photos by dejan nicik (top) & hayley mclain (right). 48

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Rachel Gallaher Rachel Gallaher writes about dance (among other art genres) for City Arts magazine. She has been covering performance in Seattle for the past three years, and was a classical ballerina for 14. Gallaher is also the editor of GRAY, the design magazine for the Pacific Northwest.  

CabinFever

The dance and performance art company created a piece called Heart Content, set throughout the Stimson-Green Mansion in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood. Attendees used maps as guides to explore different rooms throughout the mansion. There were live musicians, singers, and dancers in surprising places. Experiencing a space—and the potential stories buried in its history—in that way, with someone reflecting and embodying the essence of it, is both unique and thrilling.

the Pushbound

As a former dancer who trained under a strict, old-school dance mistress, I bring a very technical eye to everything I see. I can almost immediately tell when a dancer has had ballet training, even when the piece isn’t ballet. When I started writing about dance, Seattle opened my eyes to all of the spectacular options and genres outside of ballet.

I’ll never forget seeing Salt Horse’s

Titan Arum

in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Swan Lake. She is an incredibly gifted technical dancer, but the soul she brought to this role fully embodied the invisible magic of great ballet.

mind. I knew about contemporary dance, and had seen it before, but that piece was kind of like a full-fledged immersion into all of the possible directions a choreographer

Gregory Maqoma & his company

Carla Körbes as Odette/Odile

South African choreographer

in 2011. I walked out thinking, What did I just see? It blew my

in Exit/Exist at On the Boards. The combination of history, myth, movement, and celebratory vocals produced a haunting, visceral experience.

or company could go. Productions could still be astoundingly beautiful outside of that strict world of ballet.

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The emotional pull of Mother for you I made this. This is hands-down my personal favorite piece of 2013.

Ezra Dickinson’s

Wish for 2014 I feel like there is definitely something happening in the town with cross-discipline collaboration. People are blurring the lines of theater, dance, performance art, music, etc. Labels are fading. I’m interested in seeing more of this, but I think there is a fine line between it being done successfully and it being done to shock or get a reaction. Push the boundaries, people—I want to walk out of more than one theater with my jaw dropped this year. left–right: tim summers, angela sterling, (Cabin) Joy Jacobs, (Maqoma) John Hogg, nate watters

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Sandra Kurtz

We all talk about how short a dancer’s career is, so it’s a particular treat to watch people who’ve been working in the field for a long time. 

Sandra Kurtz has been writing about dance in Seattle since the 1970s for several different publications. 

Carmona Flamenco

Connecting daries...

This last year I made an effort to see in their monthly cabaret performances at Café Solstice—they keep talking about retirement, so I’m saving up as many memories as I can. Rubina still carries herself as a dancer, though she’s mostly a singer now, and guitarist Marcos says his fingers aren’t as skilled as they’ve been in the past, though I can’t hear the difference. But when I first started watching them, their son David was just a kid—as a grown man and a skilled percussionist he’s a full member of the group now alongside dancer Ana Montes.

Rather than thinking about individual moments in the theater last year, I’ve been noticing how different events are related to each other—whether it’s a direct “parent and child” combination or just a connection that shows up in my head.

Joan Laage is another artist with staying power—she’s been a leader in the butoh community for as long as we’ve had one in Seattle. Her Engendering Project (November) was full of characters who’ve had long lives, especially a seasoned cowboy who transforms into a woman—the whole program was an American variation on the Japanese tradition of cross-dressing performance. The dance content on the fabulous History Link website is wildly varied—the entries on dance marathons in the Northwest are especially fine—but this year they added a wonderful entry by Paula

Martha Nishitani

Becker on , who’s been an invaluable member of the Seattle dance community from the 1930s onwards. A student of Katherine Wolf ’s at Lincoln High School (likely the first dance program in a Seattle public school), she went on to study with Graham at the Connecticut College summer dance program and worked with Doris Humphrey’s protégé Eleanor King, who

Modern dance has often been used as an expressive tool, particularly when it deals with the human condition­—there’s a long tradition of work that is political in some fashion, from Isadora Duncan’s Revolutionary solo onward.

Our interest in it waxes and wanes— anti-war works were thick on the ground during the 1920s and ’30s, with some of them coming back into fashion again during the Vietnam War. Kurt Jooss’

The Green Table

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is one of the best known of these, and thanks to Robert Joffrey’s revival for his company in the 1960s, Seattle audiences got quite familiar with the ballet. It was one of the first works that the “new” Dance in America program broadcast in the 1970s on PBS, and it’s come back to us again, in a new DVD from Kultur.

Alongside that pacifist classic, we’ve had other local artists use dance to make a political or social point this year—Donald Byrd celebrated his tenth anniversary with Spectrum Dance Theater by reviving his

Cruel New World (April), a response and commentary on post-9/11 America. This version was even more pointed than the original, set inside a chain-link fence with the cast in prison-orange jumpsuits. Cara May Marcus was riveting to watch as she stalked through the yard.

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Ezra Dickinson’s

made this

Mother for you I

(May) focused our attention on a different kind of prison, the grim combination of homelessness and mental illness that traps so many people we see on the street. The work was full of beautiful and painful contradictions—the evening I went, the air was balmy and the light was tender, which gave an almost unrealistic romanticism to the experience. He led us through the streets and alleys that are home for too many people, but his innate sweetness was a welcome buffer against despair.

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ran a cross-cultural dance series in the 1950s, presenting American modern dance side by side with Asian and Native American works. Nishitani ran a studio in the University District for almost 50 years, teaching and choreographing for students, passing the space onto the next generation as the Open Flight Studio.

Finally, there are always a few moments every year that are just gobsmackingly beautiful.

Virtuosity

is usually associated with complexity or strength in dance—we talk about

the number of turns or beats, the height of a jump or the difficulty of a balance.

But there are other kinds of challenges that result in astonishing performances. Last year, both Mark Haim and Elia Mrak made works that dared their performers to be plain, allowing the sheer accumulation of an action to create a virtuoso event.

This Land is Your Land

Haim’s (January) has been popping up on local stages for a number of years, and whenever it appears I try to get there—its combination of methodical development, cultural commentary, and deceptively pedestrian action would make it a textbook example of post-modern dance on its own, but that makes it sound like a dance history exam answer—in performance it is an enthralling, almost hypnotizing experience for the audience. As

Elana Jacobs and Emily Sferra’s CabinFever group installed themselves in the Stimson-Green Mansion for

Content

Heart

(November) with a lovely collection of small dances made for specific rooms in the house, some evoking the past history of the Seattle landmark and others just about sharing space with other human beings.

the cast slowly exchanges their coffee cups for guns, adding costume pieces and then finally stripping altogether while they pace through a matrix of floor plans that evoke military drill, square dance sets, and shopping mall traffic patterns, we start to guess what might be coming next. By the time it folds itself up and finishes as it started, our heads are full and our faces hurt from smiling.

In contrast to those intimate spaces, Cornish Dance Theater filled the top of the Fisher Pavilion and then the bowl of the International Fountain at the Seattle Center like a group of

Your Eyes Have Facets

erica

intrepid explorers in by the artists of Salt Horse (November), using the stair railings like a playground climber, romping across the paving, echoing the flocking behaviors of the local seagulls as the dancers wheel and spin through the territory. With Cornish College taking on the management of the former Intiman Theatre, it seemed like these dancers were the advance guard, claiming their part of the Seattle Center campus.

In Elia Mrak’s (March) what we think is an introductory phrase becomes the whole of the work as Erica Badgeley lopes around the stage, cycling almost obsessively from the beginning to the end of the dance. As she tires, it’s fascinating to watch her changing approach to the task at hand, like watching a marathon runner if the entire course were confined to the stage space in front of the audience. Like Haim, Mrak uses very few elements to create a powerful effect. The program may have implied there was an additional performer, but in the end it seems the other partner was us.

Leta Biasucci

has been going from strength to strength since she came to PNB from Oregon Ballet Theatre in 2011. She’s been dancing corps de ballet roles with the kind of zest that makes it easy to spot her in a crowd, but she’s also had several moments where her impact is far larger than her petite frame. In Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling (September/October) she was the pugnacious leader of the gang, a tomboy who danced like the guys, and at the apex of a lift with her fist in the air, the audience would have followed her anywhere she led us. But in a pair of white tutu roles last spring (Swan Lake in April and Diamonds in June) she was the essence of classical refinement, her placement and demeanor almost like a daguerreotype from the 19th century. 54

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left–right: Grant Halverson/american dance festival, Joseph Lambert/Jazzy Photo, Angela Sterling, (CabinFever) Joy Jacobs, (Cornish/salt horse) Chris Bennion

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Companies

Letter to the editor

from Amy O’Neal on the term company

51 companies that call seattle home for alphabetical order, please see the index on page 146 for festivals & presenting venues, please see page 114 Catherine Cabeen - Hyphen Anna Conner + Co Evoke Productions Lotus Body Seattle Dance Project Ashani Dances DASSdance Amy O’Neal International Ballet Theatre badmarmarDance Alana O Rogers zoe | juniper Dayna Hanson Christian Swenson Whim W’Him Verlaine/McCann Present Tectonic Marrow Society Maya Soto Coriolis Dance Pat Graney Company Entropy Kogut Butoh Gender Tender Serendipity Dance Brigade ARC Dance Splinter Dance Company

Salt Horse Shannon Stewart Kate Wallich/The YC Redd Legg Dance Lelavision UMAMI Performance The Stone Dance Collective Degenerate Art Ensemble The Pendleton House CabinFever Chamber Dance Company Lingo Productions Manimou Camara & Denbaya Mark Haim Dance and Theater Spectrum Dance Theater 127th St. Dance 3rd Shift Dance Khambatta Dance Company The New Animals @threshold Scott/Powell Performance The Cabiri Sheri Brown Dance Company Karin Stevens Dance Pacific Northwest Ballet

Letter from the editor One Scrap from the Floor of the Editing Room 56

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letter to the editor from Amy O’Neal, Dancer/Choreographer/Teacher I hope you don’t mind that I share some thoughts...

I am wondering if there is a way to put this info together to more accurately represent who is a company and who is not… I don’t have a company. I am shedding that model because it is outdated for me. There is no more locust (music/dance/video). After a decade of collaboration, we did our last show in 2010. There is no more AmyO/tinyrage, which wasn’t a company anyway, but any time you make work under a name that isn’t People also assume that you are more legit your own, (unless it’s Amy O if you have a company, which of course Dance Co.), people assume isn’t true. you have a company.

My brand is my name: Amy O’Neal.

I make solo work. I make group work. I make dance films. I choreograph/perform for dance videos. I choreograph for theater productions. I choreograph for corporate events if the price and circumstances are right. I make work for other dance companies. I guest at national universities and dance schools. I teach contemporary dance, hip-hop, house, choreography, and improvisation. I participate in dance battles and cyphers, and so on and so on.

I am sharing all this I suppose to make a point that the company paradigm is kind of dying and it has been dying...with some exceptions of course. There are a handful of artists that are able to make it work and it is what they want to create.

However, for the majority of artists, that isn’t a reality. So how else can we talk about non-company artists in a directory like this? There are artists in this section that don’t have a dance company and probably wouldn’t identify that way. Even now people ask me “What’s your Plus, how do we define company? company?” automatically when we get into Even when I had one, it wasn’t talking about dance, and when I say I am really one. We had a brand and an independent artist, something changes in some consistent players, but we them, like I am less somehow. had no infrastructure, we worked

project-to-project. (That’s a bigger conversation to have outside of this, but a question I have thought about a lot over the years.) Thanks to Amy O’Neal for allowing me to print what was essentially a personal email, and for allowing me to use these images. –rg * This was one change I was able to make before publication. I’ve created a separate section (see page 114) for Festivals. –rg top–bottom: Peter Mumford, Gabriel Bienczycki, Tim Summers, Tim Summers, Gabriel Bienczycki 58

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I think it would be really cool to put more information out there that shows

We place a lot of that there are a lot of different ways to make a dance life work instead of importance on the lumping everything into the “company” definition. company in dance What I see in the following section are the education...you gotta get into one or have one following categories: or you are not successful, then when dancers get out into the real world, they face a lot of • Companies disappointment. • Collectives • Independent artists • Regularly occurring events • Annual festivals*

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Catherine Cabeen - Hyphen Catherine Cabeen, Artistic Director 5 performances in seattle Works: Fire!, Hair Trigger 6 dancers: Catherine Cabeen, Sarah

Lustbader, Karena Birk, Ella Mahler, Jana Kincl, Katy MacLellan left: Catherine Cabeen in Fire! (Rodrigo Valenzuela photo). right: Catherine Cabeen & Karena Birk in Fire! (Phill Cabeen photo).

Anna Conner + CO

2 guest dancers: Phylicia Roybal,

Anna Conner, Director/Choreographer

Germaul Barnes

7 performances in seattle

7 tours, 1–5 shows each: Belfast,

Ireland; Cork, Ireland; New York, NY (2 separate times); Cape Cod, MA (2 separate times); Middlebury, VT

Works: Nest, Luna, Trigger, Carousel, Love Letter, The Return 3 dancers: Anna Conner, Julia Cross,

Budget:
undisclosed

Autumn Tselios

Established: 2009 (as Catherine Cabeen and Company; it became Hyphen in 2012)

3 guest dancers: Sean Cormack,

Deborah Corrales, Alice Gosti top: Anna Conner, Julia Cross, Autumn Tselios in Luna at 12 Minutes Max (Tim Summers photo). Bottom: Julia Cross in the filming of Luna (Anna Conner photo).

Website: catherinecabeen.com Email: [email protected]

2 tours, 2 shows: Portland, OR; residency/performance in Stolzenhagen, Germany budget:
undisclosed established: 2011 Website: http://annaconnerandco.com Email: [email protected]

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top: Kaitlin McCarthy & Naphtali Beylereid in Jamie Karlovich’s The Deeper Side. bottom: Jan Trumbauer in Kaitlin McCarthy’s I made you this mixed CD. (both photos by Joseph Lambert/Jazzy photo)

EVOke Productions Fumi Murakami, Producer 1 performance in Seattle Works: Full Tilt (Markeith Wiley’s Fallen,

Frozen, Finally Up to Finally Dozin’; Kristin Hapke’s terrain; Alice Gosti’s the unbreakable ones; Jamie Karlovich’s The Deeper Side; Kaitlin McCarthy’s I made you this mixed CD)  

Lotus Body Tara Dyberg, Choreographer/Director 4 performances in Seattle

27 dancers: Nicole Daigle, Miranda

Chisholm-Sims, Irene Beausoleil, Christine Abdale, Miriam Castro Sanjuan, Brie Chun, Alyza DelPan-Monley, Jan Trumbauer, Gena Barnabee, Warren Woo, Rachel Ferguson, Evan Foster, Taylor Augustine, Elby Brosch, Annalisa Peterson, Jenny Peterson, Sruti Desai, Victoria Jacobs, Jordan Colvard, Lena Wolfe, Julia Kusanagi, Naphtali Beylereld, Kaitlin McCarthy, Kara Burrows, Hallie Scott, Eric Aguilar, Alicia Mullikin

Works: Tara Dyberg’s Net // Works 3 dancers: Tara Dyberg, Victoria

McConnell, Mariko Nagashima 1 guest musician: Jesse French 1 tour, 2 shows: Portland, OR budget: undisclosed established: 2013

assistant producers:
Jamie

Karlovich, Christin Lusk, Kaitlin McCarthy

website: tdyberg.wix.com/lotus-body

Budget:
 undisclosed

email: [email protected]

Established: 2006 Website: evokeproductions.org Email: [email protected] Left: Victoria McConnell in Tara Dyberg’s Net // Works (Stephen Byrne photo). RIGHT: Tara Dyberg IN her Net // Works (Stephen Byrne photo).

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top: Sam Picart in Iyun Ashani Harrison’s Obsession. bottom: Matthew Schmitz, Sam Picart, Camryn Kelly, Sarah Butler in Iyun Ashani Harrison’s 2012 Subway Stories: Dances on the ‘A’. (both photos by Joseph Lambert/ jazzy photo)

Seattle Dance Project Timothy Lynch, Artistic Director 6 Performances in Seattle Works: Project 6 (Jason Ohlberg’s Departure from 5th and Gloria); Anna Mansbridge’s Wayward Sisters in collaboration with Pacific MusicWorks

ASHANI DANCES Iyun Ashani Harrison, Founder/Artistic Director/Resident Choreographer 5 performances in Seattle Works: After Snow, Like Sand Through My Fingers (Obsession was the precursor), Artifact 13 dancers: Ariana Bird, Brenna Monroe Cook, Heather Eichhorst Dougherty, Taryn Jansen, Camryn Kelly, Christina Kennedy, Trevor Miles, Thomas O’Neal, Julie Opiel, Sam Picart, Sean Rosado, Lindy Lou Smith, Autumn Tselios budget:
 undisclosed established: 2011 Website: www.ashanidances.org

8 dancers: Betsy Cooper, Alexandra

Dickson, Michele Curtis, Iyun Ashani Harrison, Timothy Lynch, Chris Montoya, Jason Ohlberg, Ellie Sandstrom

Email: [email protected]

Budget: undisclosed Established: 2007 Website: www.seattledanceproject.org Email: [email protected]

Top: Michele Curtis in Jason Ohlberg’s Departure from 5th (Zebravisual photo). Bottom: Iyun ashani Harrison in Jason Ohlberg’s Departure from 5th (Zebravisual photo).

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top: Full Company in Daniel Wilkins’ Tale of Ten Green (Gabriel Corey photo). bottom: BoJohn Diciple & Mia Monteabaro in Daniel Wilkins’ Tale of Ten Green (Gabriel Corey photo).

Amy O’Neal DASSdance

Independent Artist

Daniel Wilkins, Producing Artistic Director Danielle Wilkins, Company Manager

Works: Twilight Groove; Sects; Temporary

Terrain; All I Am is This Sound; Something light, for the sake of the dark

19 performances in Seattle

Here is what I did last year:

I performed with Reggie Watts in San Francisco at the SF Comedy Fest in January 2013. I brought dancers Amy Clem and Ellie Sandstrom with me. I danced in Seattle artist Vox Mod’s music video for Iridescent Asteroid Mists. I produced and danced in a new Reggie Watts music video called Sects that premiered online on Jash.com alongside content from comedians Sarah Silverman and Michael Cera. I collaborated on a new dance video with LA cinematographer Gabriel Bienczycki called Twilight Groove that ended up screening in Vancouver, BC, and Brooklyn, NY, by the end of 2013. I taught a master class at The Houston Met in Houston, TX; Broadway Dance Center in NYC; and taught for Ryan Heffington (Ru Paul’s Drag Race) at his studio in LA, The Sweat Spot. I taught choreography classes at NYU Playwright Horizon’s School in NYC and at CalArts in LA. I was a guest performer with a NYC-based up-and-coming company called The Dance Cartel at the ACE Hotel in NYC. I taught improvisation for STG’s Dance This Intensive for the ninth year in a row and choreographed a piece called Temporary Terrain for Dance This alumni for the Dance This Show at the Paramount Theater. I was chosen for the

Works:
3rd Annual All 4 1 Dancepalooza

(featuring master classes & local companies: DASSdance, Emerald Ballet Theatre, Whidbey Island Dance Theatre, Peninsula Dance Theatre, Kutt n up, Jill Marissa, BoJohn Diciple, Washington Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Bellevue); Daniel Wilkins’ Untitled 1982; Daniel Wilkins’ Tale of Ten Green in partnership with Survival International; Daniel & Danielle Wilkins’ Santa Breakfast/Mini-Nutcracker; Salon de DASSdance  6 dancers: BoJohn Diciple, Dade Glaser,

Brittany Falso, Mia Monteabaro, Elise Landles, Graham Vanderwood 2 guest dancers: Raelani Kesler

(recently joined DASSdance), William Ernest D. Burden 1 tour: New York, NY Budget: undisclosed Established: 2000 Website: www.dassdance.org Email: [email protected] 66

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New Aesthetics Intensive in Vancouver, BC, run by Theater Replacement, where I got to study with Crystal Pite every day for two weeks alongside 20 other professional performance-makers from Canada, Seattle, and New York. Taught at the Dance This Camp for the fifth year in row. Taught and set a new work All I Am is This Sound at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI. Performed with Vox Mod for KEXP’s Live at the Mural Ampitheater series at Seattle Center. Performed for Artist Trust event at the EMP. I performed a work-in-progress of a new solo called Something light, for the sake of the dark at the Velocity Fall Kick Off. The full work will premiere at the Northwest New Works Festival in June 2014. Started research for next evening-length work called Opposing Forces with a cast of B-boys around questions of femininity and how that affects male behavior, premiering in October 2014 at On the Boards. Budget: undisclosed Established: 2000 Website: amyoneal.com Email: [email protected] (artist management)

top: Video still of Amy O’Neal from Twilight Groove (Gabriel Bienczycki photo). bottom: Video Still of Amy O’Neal & Reggie Watts from Sects (Gabriel Bienczycki photo).

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INTERNATIONAL BALLET THEATRE Vera Altunina, Artistic Director 18 performances in the Seattle area Works: Vera Altunina, Alison Epsom & Hiromi Rudd’s Alice in Wonderland; A. Gorsky & M. Petipa’s Don Quixote; Vera Altunina, Jerry Tassin & François Berga’s Dracula; Vera Altunina’s Nutcracker 16 dancers: Principal: Alison Epsom; Soloists: Victoria Gutierrez, Gabrielle Harter, Maxine MacDade, Audrey Robinson, Christin Reuss-Purple; Corps de ballet: Sarena Fishman, Emma Kreutzer, Clarissa Lambert, Nicole Leung; Apprentices: Kinsey Folkers, Amelia Greenberg, Natalie Nickels, Alisa Rreynya, Sophia Sevier, Lena Takechi

badmarmarDANCE Marlo Martin, Artistic Director 6 performances in Seattle Works: Marlo Martin’s tenSIDES; Marlo Martin’s Without Context or Provocation

4 Guest dancers: Nelson Madrigal,

Established: 2001

10 dancers: Danica Bito, Kaitlyn Jane Dye, Jennifer Elder, Alex Goldstein, Amy Johnson, Karen O’Branovich, Michele O’Neill, Nadia Losonsky, Anne Motl, Marlo Martin 

Website: IbtBellevue.org

Budget: undisclosed

Email: [email protected]

Established: 2011

April Daly, Li Yin, Anton Pankevitch Budget:
undisclosed

Website: www.badmarmardance.com Email: [email protected]

top: Le Yin in A. Gorsky & M. Petipa’s Don Quixote (Rex Tranter photo). Bottom: Maxine McDade in Vera Altunina’s Nutcracker (Rex Tranter photo).

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top: Nadia Losonsky in Marlo Martin’s without context or provocation. Bottom: Jill Leversee, Nadia Losonsky, Alex Goldstein, Anne Motl in Marlo Martin’s tenSIDES. (both photos by Joseph Lambert/jazzy photo)

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zoe | juniper

Alana O Rogers

Zoe Scofield & Juniper Shuey, Co-Artistic Directors; Stefanie Karlin, Managing Director

Alana O’Farrell Rogers, Artistic Director 7 performances in Seattle

25 performances in Seattle

Works: Alana O’Farrell Rogers’ ID;

Works:
 No one to witness and adjust, no one to drive the car; Eleven; A Crack in Everything; Commissioned to create when we were young for Coriolis Dance

Alana O’Farrell Rogers’ SIGHT 10 dancers: Sylvain Boulet, Julia Cross, Jana Kincl, Victoria McConnell, Erin McIntire, Mariko Nagashima, Carla Negrete-Martinez, Echo Norris, Alana O’Farrell Rogers, Marissa Quimby

12 dancers: Zoe Scofield, Ariel Freedman, Kim Lusk, Erin McCarthy, Britt Karhoff, Randall Smith, Allison Sale, Raja Kelly, Anna Schon, Christiana Axelsen, Eloise Deluca, Coleman Pester

Budget: undisclosed Established: 2008

1 tour, 9 shows: Vancouver, BC;

Website: www.alanaorogers.org

Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA; New York, NY both photos: ZOE | JUNIPER’s A Crack in Everything (2011 & 2012; Christopher Duggan photos). top: ZOE SCOFIELD. bottom: Anna Schon, Christiana Axelsen, Raja Kelly.

budget: undisclosed Established: 2006 Website: zoejuniper.org Email: [email protected]

top: Alana O Rogers’ ID (Joseph Lambert/The Boost Dance Festival photo). bottom: Erin McIntire, Marissa Quimby, Tori McConnell in Alana O Rogers’ SIGHT (Ernie Sapiro photo). 70

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Dayna Hanson Dayna Hanson, Artistic Director 6 performances in Seattle Works: Mandy Greer & Dayna Hanson’s untitled duet; Dayna Hanson & Peggy Piacenza’s Ginger/Rebecca: A Study From The Clay Duke; Dayna Hanson’s The Clay Duke 6 dancers: Peggy Piacenza, Wade

Madsen, Thomas Graves, Sarah Rudinoff, Dave Proscia, Dayna Hanson 2 tours, 4 shows: Groningen,

top: Dayna Hanson in Dayna Hanson’s Atmospheric (Tim Summers photo). Bottom: company dancers in The Clay Duke (Benjamin Kasulke photo).

Christian Swenson “Human Jazz”

Netherlands

Christian Swenson


Budget:
undisclosed

6 or 7 performances in Seattle

Established: 2006

Works: Christian Swenson’s De-evolution, Jabberwocky, and many improvisations


Website: www.daynahanson.com Email: [email protected]

1 dancer: Christian Swenson 8 tours, 8 shows: Vancouver, BC; Surrey, BC; Port Townsend, WA; Bellingham, WA; Walla Walla, WA; Dummerston, VT; Los Angeles, CA

Christian Swenson Human Jazz (John Cornicello photos).

budget:
 undisclosed established: 1986 Website: www.humanjazz.com Email: [email protected]

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Verlaine/McCann Present Lily Verlaine, Artistic Director; Jasper McCann, Musical Director 48 performances in Seattle Works: Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker; Through The Looking Glass: The Burlesque Alice in Wonderland; Burlesco DiVino: Wine in Rome 23 dancers: Lily Verlaine, Indigo Blue, Waxie Moon, Inga Ingenue, Babette LaFave, Tory Tiara, Trojan Original, Paris Original, Mimi Me, Holly Pop, The Luminous Pariah, Polly Wood, Christina Amadeo, Janice Lancaster, Juwana Hodge, Cookie Bellini, Wednesday du Monde, Laurel Bordeaux, Mafia Minx, Fosse Jack, Erika Zabelle, Ginger Glam, Red Delicious, Persephone Illyri, Isobella Bloom, Cathy Sutherland, Thea Railey, Carri Anderson, Jasper McCann

Whim W’Him Olivier Wevers, Artistic Director

1 tour, 1 show: Orcas Island, WA

6 performances in Seattle

budget: undisclosed established: 2006

Works: CraveMore (Annabelle Lopez

Ochoa’s CRAVE; Olivier Wevers’ More; Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Before After; Olivier Wevers’ The Sofa); Third Degree (Andrew Bartee’s This is real; Olivier Wevers’ FRAGMENTS; Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s L’Effleuré; Olivier Wevers’ I don’t remember a spark)

Website: landofthesweets.com Email: [email protected] Top: Lily Verlaine as The Countess of Coffee in Land of The Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker (Chris Blakeley photo). Bottom: Wednesday du Monde in Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker (Photo by POC Photo).

9 dancers: Andrew Bartee, Jim Kent,

Mia Monteabaro, Tory Peil, Lara Seefeldt, Shane Ohmer, Amber Willet, Kyle Johnson, Sergey Kheylik

left: Olivier Wevers’ The Sofa (Bamberg Fine Art photo). right: Tory Peil & Sergey Khelhik in Andrew Bartee’s This is real (Bamberg Fine Art photo).

5 guest dancers: Lucien Postlewaite,

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Yuka Oba, Nick Schultz, Jesse Sani 2 tours, 3 shows: Tacoma, WA;

New York, NY budget: undisclosed established: 2009 Website: www.whimwhim.org Email: [email protected] 74

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top: Full company in Maya Soto’s Gathering Bones. bottom: Maya Soto in her Gathering Bones. (both photos by Joseph Lambert/jazzy photo)

Tectonic Marrow Society Coleman Pester, Artistic Director 3 performances in Seattle Works: Coleman Pester’s Codification Station; Coleman Pester’s TECTONIC MARROW SOCIETY (film); Coleman Pester’s 30 unsure steps to my seat 6 dancers: Erica Badgeley, Victoria

Jacobs, Erin McCarthy, Coleman Pester, Fausto Rivera, Markeith Wiley

Maya Soto Maya Soto, Artistic Director, Choreographer/Performer/Collaborator


3 guest dancers: Jay Carlon, Babette Top: Babette McGeady & Jay Carlon in Coleman Pester’s film Tectonic marrow society (Cullie Poseria photo). Bottom: Erica Badgeley in Coleman Pester’s 30 unsure steps to my seat (Tim Summers photo).

McGeady, Allison Sale

6 performances in Seattle

1 tour, 1 show: New York, NY

Works: Maya Soto’s Gathering Bones

budget: undisclosed

9 dancers: Danica Bito, Teresa

Hanawalt, Amy Johnson, Jana Kincl, Cristen Klaja, Erin McIntire, Uraina Nagy, Carla Maria Negrete Martinez, Maya Soto

established: 2012 Website: www.facebook.com/ TectonicMarrowSociety

2 tours, 5 shows: Portland, OR

Email: [email protected]

budget: undisclosed
 Established: 2010 Website: www.mayasotodance.com Email: [email protected]

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Top: Jenny Peterson in rehearsal for Pat Graney’s girl gods (Jenny Peterson photo). bottom: Jody Kuehner & Jenny Peterson in Pat Graney’s House of Mind (2012; photo courtesy of John Michael Kohler Art Center).

Coriolis Dance

Pat Graney Company

Christin Call & Natascha Greenwalt, Co-Founders & Co-Artistic Directors

Pat Graney, Executive/Artistic Director

8 performances in Seattle Works: Zoe Scofield’s when we were young II; Rainbow Fletcher’s Deciduous Urge; Lauren Edson’s Real Gone; Excerpt from Natascha Greenwalt’s Tethered Apparitions; Natascha Greenwalt & Christin Call’s Insofar as the landscopic field report; Excerpt from Christin Call’s try to hover (or Private Practice 7); Christin Call’s The gentle abduction of Esther Williams; Andrea Larreta’s Depicting Verbs

top: Zoe Scofield’s when we were young II (Bret Doss photo). bottom: Andrea Larreta In her Depicting Verbs (Bret Doss photo).

4 performances Works: Keeping the Faith/The Prison Project (Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women, Belfair, WA); House of Mind at Velocity Bash; girl gods (first 8-week rehearsal session: premiere at On the Boards & the Frye Art Museum in 2015) 5 dancers: Jenny Peterson, Sruti Desai,

Jody Kuehner, Sara Jinks, Michelle de la Vega budget: undisclosed

4 dancers: Natascha Greenwalt, Christin

Call, Marissa Quimby, Andrea Larreta

established: 1990

7 guest dancers: Roxanne Foster,

Website: www.patgraney.org

Hannah Crowley, Joel Myers, Philip Borunda, Sean Cormack, Danny Boulet, Sylvain Boulet

Email: [email protected]

1 tour, 1 show: Walla Walla, WA Budget: undisclosed Established: 2008 Website: www.coriolisdance.com Email: [email protected]

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Entropy

Kogut Butoh

Alicia Mullikin & Daniel Mullikin, Artistic Directors

Joan Laage, Artistic Director 5 performances in Seattle

7 performances in Seattle

Carnival, Summer Jams

Works: The Engendering Project; Wandering & Wondering (2 sites); Suitcases Project

6 dancers: Alyza Delpan Monley,

1 dancer: Joan Laage

works: Iron Daisies, Locura, Trigger,

Danica Bito, Carla Maria Negrete Martinez, Maggie Hotchkiss, Adriana Hernandez, Alicia Mullikin 2 musicians: Daniel Mullikin (multiinstrumentalist), Alicia Mullikin (vocalist)

11 guest dancers: Sheri Brown, Helen Thorsen, Kaoru Okumura, Lin Lucas, Vanessa Skantze, Camille Hildebrandt, Stephen Passero, Bruce Fogg, Kristin Narcowich, Julia Parsons, Apple Martine

Budget: undisclosed

budget: undisclosed

Established: 2013

established: 2005

Website: Facebook.com/EntropyPerformance

Website: www.seattlebutoh-laage.com

Email: [email protected]

Email: [email protected] Both: Entropy company members in iron daisies (photos by Joseph Lambert/ Jazzy Photo).

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top: Helen Thorsen, Lin Lucas, Kaoru Okumura, Joan Laage performing as Roving Rogue Ronin (2012; Garet Wolfe photo). bottom: Joan Laage in her Wandering & Wondering (Aurora Santiago photo).

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GENDER TENDER Will Courtney & Syniva Whitney, Co-Founders Syniva Whitney, Director, Choreographer, Lead Artist 12 performances in Seattle Works: GENDER TENDER performances + objects; Syncs and Squats; GENDERTENDERFOOT; Rough/Hard; Coaches Duet; Stiletto Relay Race; HEELS and FLATS; Floor/Ceiling; EVER/WHAT; The Ravitch Workout; Go/Long 14 dancers: Christine Abdale, Mimi Allin, Ava Cole, Will Courtney, EmpeROAR Fabulous!!!, Steven Gomez, Kristi Krein, Loren Othón, Tikiri Shapiro, kt shores, Jan Trumbauer, Hendri Walujo, Tyler P. Wardwell, Syniva Whitney 22 guest dancers: Eric Eugene

Aguilar, Emily Batlan, Dahlia Blackthorn, Lauren Brazell, Adam Boehmer, Sara Ann Davidson, Alyza DelPan-Monley, Vanessa DeWolf, Alice Gosti, Kathryn Hightower, Rachel Houser, Ryan Law, Joyce Liao, Lily Maureen, Mary Margaret Moore, Juliana Meira do Valle, Sayward Schoonmaker, Eli Steffen, Lydia Swartz, Annie Terrell, Belle Wolf, Meng Yu budget: undisclosed

Top: Antonia Price, Mollie Strain & Zeke Hess (Michelle SmithLewis photo). bottom: Kelsey Hamon in Sarah Kathryn Olds’ murTOWN (Michelle Smith-Lewis photo).

Serendipity Dance Brigade Sarah Kathryn Olds, Owner/Co- Artistic Director Eric Eugene Aguilar, Co-Artistic Director (December 2009–June 2013) 15 performances in Seattle Works: Sarah Kathryn Olds’ murTOWN; Eric Aguilar’s A peaceful dissonance; Version Excursion’s Ballo alla Vita; Sarah Kathryn Olds’ Intuitive Algorithm; BareFoot Collective’s Ides of May; Fire & Ice (Karin Stevens’ Point of Departure; Sarah Kathryn Olds flies among us; Sarah Kathryn Olds’ Sentinel; Sarah Kathryn Olds & Kristen Kridelbaugh’s Tune in/Tune out) 15 dancers: Eric Aguilar, Erin Boyt, Angelica DeLashmette, Kelsey Hamon, Mollie Strain, Antonia Price, Katya Terez, Michele McCauley, Micaela Preskill, Rachael Forstrom, Amanda Oie, Ingrid Porter, Shannan McCormick, Philippa Myler, Madeline Devries

established: 2013 Website: gendertender.tumblr.com Email: [email protected]

9 guest dancers: Naphtali Beyleveld,

Top: Syniva Whitney & Will Courtney in Go/Long (Tim Summers photo). Bottom: Will Courtney & Syniva Whitney in Go/ Long (Tim Summers photo). Performed at Velocity Dance Center’s Next Fest NW 2013.

Jennifer Gears, Michael Hoover, April Nyquist, Katie Stricker Lappier, Jessie Fouts, Kelly Lynch, Sophie Nevin, Kristen Kridelbaugh 2 tours, 3 shows: Portland, OR;

Tacoma, WA budget: undisclosed established: 2008 Website: serendipitydancebrigade.org Email: [email protected] 82

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Splinter Dance Company Justice Beitzel, Artistic Director Robin Campbell, Managing Director 

Left: Danny Ryan, Erin Crall & Graham Gobeille in rehearsal for Elizabeth Cooper’s Evening Song (Paul Sanders Photography photo). Right: ARC Dance Company in Elizabeth Cooper’s Evening Song (Paul Sanders Photography photo).

15 performances in Seattle

ARC Dance

Works: various works by Rena RobinsonSteiner, Laura Lee, Brenna Feely & Justice Beitzel

Marie Chong, Artistic Director 12 performances in Seattle

12 dancers: Justice Beitzel, Robin Campbell, Brenna Feely, Thomas Glass, Amanda Hastings, Jared Jones, Tameka Lampkin, Carolyn Mull, Denise Rounsavelle, Ali Vice, Warren Wu, Brian Davis-Hopkins

Works: Summer Dance at the Center (Penny Hutchinson’s Pastorale; Marie Chong’s SH...OUT!; Marie Chong’s Reflection; Betsy Cooper’s Evening Song; Marie Chong’s Verdant Concerto; Marie Chong’s Momentum); Marie Chong’s Nutcracker Sweets; Marie Chong’s Carnival of the Animals

budget: undisclosed established: 2007

9 dancers: Julianna Bicki, Alice Cao,

website: http://www.splinterdance.org

Erin Crall, Noel Dilworth, Michael Galloway, Graham Gobeille, Victoria Jahn,
Amanda Loh, Danny Ryan

Email: [email protected]

Budget: $234,000 Established: 1999 top: Splinter dance company promo shot (commence vision photo). Bottom: Robin Campbell & Jared Jones in Rena Robinson-Steiner’s Two Wings (Chris YeTTer photo).

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Shannon Stewart Shannon Stewart, Director 8 performances in Seattle Works: Come.Get.To.This; An Inner Place That Has No Place; In Transit (film collaboration with Adam Sekuler); tsunami; 180 Days To Fail (a durational installation) 6 dancers: Meredith Horiuchi, Mary

Margaret Moore, Aaron Swartzman, Rosa Vissers, David Wolbrecht, Shannon Stewart

Salt Horse

7 guest dancers: Paris Hurley,

Corrie Befort & Beth Graczyk, Co-Directors/Choreographers Angelina Baldoz, Composer

Mercedes Klein, Syniva Whitney, Jan Trumbau, kt shores, Jeff Huston, Will Courtney

2 performed pieces, 1 commission, 2 multi-day scores for large groups in Seattle

2 tours, 6 shows: New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR

Works: Frankenthaler; Three Abstractions

budget: approx. $12,000

for Double Height; Your Eyes Have Facets (a site-specific commission for Cornish Dance Theater dancers); Group Logic Score #2: Arboretum; Group Logic Score #3: Juvenal Detention Center

established: 2010 Website: www.therealshannonstewart.org Email: [email protected]

2 dancers: Beth Graczyk, Corrie Befort 19 guest dancers: Steven Gomez, Alia Swersky, Shannon Stewart, Alyza DelPan-Monley, Ezra Cooper,  Paris Hurley, Matt Real, Scott Davis, Evan Foster, Jan Trumbauer, Mercedes Klein, Paris Hurley, Rhya Milici, Rachel Green, kt shores, Molly Sides, Alia Swersky, Mary Margaret Moore, Heidi Biggs

left & right: Corrie Befort & Beth Graczyk in their Three Abstractions for Double Height at the SAMRemix (Tim Summers photos).

Right: Shannon Stewart & Meredith Horiuchi in Shannon Stewart & Adam Sekuler’s In Transit (Adam Sekuler photo, courtesy of Dances Made to Order). Left: Shannon Stewart in her Come.Get.To.This (Joseph LamberT photo, courtesy of Seattle International Dance Festival).

Budget: undisclosed established: 2005 Website: SaltHorsePerformance.com Email: [email protected] 86

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Kate Wallich/The YC

Redd Legg Dance

Kate Wallich, Artistic Director/Choreographer Lavinia Vago, Co-Director

Kristen Legg, Artistic Director 2 performances in Seattle

6 performances & 4 film showings in Seattle

Works: An Irritating Cerebral Itch (as part of Split Bill, BOOST dance festival 2013)

Works: White of Spring; Super Eagle; It girl and them; Untitled solo piece; On line and orientation: for solo dance; Yacht Club (film); White of Spring (film); Nightingale (film); The YC | New York (film). (All works choreographed by Kate Wallich.)

9 dancers: Karen Baskett, Elizabeth

Belyea, Karena Birk, Stacy Brenner, Mary Kirkpatrick, Arianna Lawson, Carla Maria Negrete Martinez, Anna Waller, Laura Kay Young

4 dancers, 1 apprentice: Andrew Bartee, Matt Drews, Lavinia Vago, Kate Wallich & Sean Rosado (apprentice)

budget: undisclosed

1 cinematographer, 1 composer:

Website: www.reddleggdance.org

Jacob Rosen (cinematographer), Lena Simon (composer)

Email: [email protected]

established: 2005

4 tours, 6 shows, 5 film showings: Captiva Island, FL; Montreal,

Canada; Portland, OR (performance & film showing); New Jersey; New York, NY (performance & film showing); Indianapolis, IN (film showing) Both from Kate Wallich’s Super Eagle (2014; Tim Summers photos). Top: Andrew Bartee, Lavinia Vago, Matt Drews. Bottom: Andrew Bartee & Matt Drews.

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budget: $25,000 established: 2010 Top: Redd Legg Dance promo shot (Joseph Lambert/ Jazzy Photography photo). Bottom: Redd Legg Dance members in Kristen Legg’s May I... (my life as it is now) at BOOST dance festival 2013 (Joseph Lambert/Jazzy Photography photo).

Website: www.companywallich.com Email: [email protected]

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UMAMI Performance Aiko Kinoshita & Aaron Swartzman, Co-Directors 12 performances in Seattle Works: The Constellation Series (Nest; Patina; Harbor; Trace) 2 dancers: Aiko Kinoshita & Aaron

Swartzman 7 guest dancers: Scott Davis,

Johanna Hulick, Katie Arrants, Shannon Stewart, Laura Proudhome, Jeremy Cline, Belle Wolf

Lelavision

budget: undisclosed

Leah Mann & Ela Lamblin, Co-Directors

established: 2006

22 performances in Seattle

Website: umamiperformance.wordpress.

Works: Physical Music; Cre8tivZoo; Heavy

com

Metal DëVices

Email: [email protected]

8 dancers/physical musicians:

Leah Mann, Ela Lamblin, Arlette Moody, Jason Staczek, Christopher Overstreet, Lynelle Sjoberg, Abby Enson, Aimee Zoe Tubbs established: 1998 Website: www.Lelavision.com Email: [email protected]

Top: Leah Mann, Abby Enson, Lynelle Sjoberg, Ela Lamblin on the Orbitnoe (Michelle Bates photo). Bottom: Lynelle Sjoberg, Leah Mann, Ela Lamblin on The Helix from Lelavision’s Heavy Metal DëVices (Michelle Bates photo).

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left: Aiko Kinoshita & Aaron Swartzman’s Constellation HalfRemembered - HARBOR (Bruce Tom photo). right: Aiko Kinoshita & Aaron Swartzman in their Constellation Half-Remembered (Jim Clymer photo).

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both photos: Haruko Nishimura in Warrior (photos by Bruce Tom Photography).

The Stone Dance Collective Eva Stone, Artistic Director 5 performances in Seattle Works: Eva Stone’s Eve‚ reconsidered

Degenerate Art Ensemble

6 dancers: Kelly Hui, Amanda Records,

Sarah (Poppe) Pitman, Fiona Kuipers, Chelsea Mathews-Jensen, Kate Chamberlin

Haruko Nishimura, Choregrapher/Co-Director Joshua Kohl, Music Director/Co-Director

budget: undisclosed

4 performances in Seattle

established: 1993

Works: Degenerate Art Ensemble’s Warrior with the Kronos Quartet; Degenerate Art Ensemble’s Dictator (in various locations, work in progress)

Website: www.chopshopdance.org Email: [email protected]

1 dancer: Haruko Nishimura 1 guest dancer: Jonas Radavik 2 tours, 2 shows: Jonkoping, Sweden;

Williamstown, MA budget: undisclosed established: 1999 Website: www.degenerateartensemble.com Email: [email protected]

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The Pendleton House Babette Pendleton McGeady & Coulliette Powell, Executive Directors 6 performances in Seattle works: A Beginning - A Pendleton House Premiere; Contagion; I’d Rather Explode into the Sun than Die Alone on the Moon (excerpt); Marked; 9andOne; Pearl; | Bardo |

CabinFever Elana Jacobs, Artistic Director/Co-Founder Emily Sferra, Co-Founder

7 dancers: Ariana Bird, Mariah Martens,

3 Performances in Seattle

Baylee Drew Reynolds, Alexandra Maricich, Babette McGeady, Colleen McNeary, Matt Drews, Micaela Taylor, Sean Rosado 

both photos by tim summers. TOP: company dancers in Babette Pendleton McGeady’s The Unbearable Weight. BOTTOM: Matt Drews, Ariana Bird, Micaela Taylor in McGeady’s 9andOne.

Works: Make Like a Table and Serve; The Living Room; Heart Content

Artistic Collaborators: Coulliette Powell, Makenzie Stone, Rosemary McGeady, Jordan Rundle, Tyler Coray, Christopher Walsh, Cameron Armstrong, Will Hayes, Benjamin Marx, Drew Powell, Dan Toscas 

3 Dancers: Sarah Lustbader, Emily

Sferra, Dylan Ward musicians: Doug Barber, Anna Goren,

Rebekka Goldsmith, Mike Rimoin

1 tour, 2 shows: Baltimore, MD

designers: Evan Anderson (lighting),

Erik Andor (costumes)

budget: undisclosed

established: 2011

established: 2013

budget: undisclosed

Website: thependletonhouse.com Email: [email protected]

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Chamber Dance Company Hannah Wiley, Artistic Director 4 performances in Seattle Works: Doris Humphrey’s Air for the G String; Doris Humphrey’s The Shakers; Zvi Gotheiner’s Brazilian Duets; Twyla Tharp’s The Fugue; Doug Varone’s Possession 7 dancers: Megan Brunsvold, Natalie

Desch, Jamie Johnson, Bruce McCormick, Jason Ohlberg, Pablo Piantino, Storme Sundberg affiliation: Chamber Dance Company is affiliated with the University of Washington Dance Program, which also presented a Dance Faculty Concert (Jennifer Salk’s A Small Piece of the Story; José Limón’s Dances for Isadora; Jürg Koch’s The Rite of Spring) and two student-choreographed concerts. budget: undisclosed established: 1990

(UW Dance Program established in 1965) Website: dance.uw.edu

Lingo Productions

Email: [email protected]

KT Niehoff, Artistic Director 8 performances in Seattle

Collision Theory (2012–2013, photos by Hayley Young photography).

Works: Collision Theory, a 16-month project: Paper Trail; Reunion: A Pop-Up Gallery; Emerald City: I Have to Be Seen in Green; Raucous Bacchus; Tip of the Tongue; Dream Brain (films Sad City and Rain Beats Down); Viewfinder; The Finale 6 dancers & 2 music collaborators: dancers Molly Sides,

Emily Sferra, Sarah Lustbader, Markeith Wiley, Sean Tomerlin, Jul Kostelancik; music collaborators Ivory Smith & Scott Colburn budget: undisclosed TOP: Pablo Piantino & Megan Brunsvold in Doug Varone’s Possession (Steve Korn photo). Bottom: doris Humphrey’s The Shakers—Dance of the Chosen (Steve Korn photo). 96

established: 2001; Collision Theory was

the final work under the Lingo Productions umbrella. KT is now operating as an independent artist. Website: www.ktniehoff.com Email: [email protected] S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

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Top: Mark Haim’s De Tijd (2012; Tim Summers photo). Bottom: Mark Haim’s This Land Is Your Land (2012; Tim Summers photo).

Manimou Camara & Denbaya  Manimou Camara, Artistic Director 4 performances in Seattle 5 dancers: Manimou Camara, Hannah

Kogan, Syreeta Bernal, Lisa Duncan Goedecke, Dani Long 5 drummers: Manimou Camara, Greg Evans, Maxx Arnold, James Morford, Levin Pugsley

Mark Haim Dance and Theater

Affiliated Programs: Camp

3 dance performances in Seattle

Mark Haim, Artistic Director

Saâmato: African Masters Dance & Drum Intensive; Experience Africa: African Dance & Drum Study Abroad Program

Works: Mark Haim’s This Land Is

Your Land

budget: undisclosed


15 dancers: BRACE, Sruti Desai, Tova Eisner, TJ Elston, Mark Ferrin, Beth Graczyk, Jessica Jobaris, Karn Junkinsmith, Jim Kent, Jess Klein, Jürg Koch, Jody Kuehner, Lisa Kusanagi, Jennifer Salk, Hendri Walujo

established: 2009 Website: www.douniadjembe.com Email: [email protected]

2 tours, 5 shows: Paris, France;

Durham, NC budget: undisclosed established: 2010 Website: markhaimart.com

Top: Manimou Camara (photo by fotomoto photography). Bottom: Manimou Camara & Dani Tirrell Long in a traditional Tiriba (Byron Towns photo).

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Spectrum Dance Theater Donald Byrd, Artistic Director

127th St. Dance

25 performances in Seattle

Barbara Caioli, Artistic Director

Works:
A CRUEL NEW WORLD/the new normal; Autopsy of Love; Studio Series 1: Truth and Betrayal & Prodigal; The Minstrel Show Revisited (workshop presentation). (All works choreographed by Donald Byrd.)

4 performances in Seattle Works: Barbara Caioli’s Le Tre; Rochelle Rapaszky’s Assimilation Part 1; Barbara Caioli’s Spirito in Tre Parti; Rochelle Rapaszky’s While You Weren’t Looking; Barbara Caioli’s WEEDS; Rochelle Rapaszky’s Co-Creating Ascension; Barbara Caioli’s Sveglia nel Grigio; Barbara Caioli’s Battito di Cuore; Kisha Vaughan’s Your Love; Rochelle Rapaszky’s Pocket Aces 

9–10 dancers: William Ernest Davis Burden†, Ty Alexander Cheng*, Derek Crescenti, Alex Crozier, Jade Solomon Curtis, Davione Gordon†, Donald Jones, Jr.*, Vincent Michael Lopez*, Cara May Marcus, Shadou Mintrone, Kate Monthy, Justin Reiter†, Stacie L. Williams*

*departed at the end of the 2012–2013 season † joined at the beginning of the 2013–2014 season 2 guest dancers: Jacob Jonas, Jill

Wilson 1 tour: DanceMotion USA tour of

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Nepal budget: undisclosed established: 1982 Website: www.spectrumdance.org

15 dancers: CarliAnn Forthun,

left: Cara May Marcus with Kate Monthy & Andy McGinn in the background in donald byrd’s Autopsy of Love (Nate Watters photo). right: Jade Solomon Curtis & Donald Jones, Jr. in donald byrd’s Autopsy of Love (Nate Watters photo).

Josh Edwards, Kelli Carnes, Shannan McCormick, Mireya Mascarello, Lionel Flynn, Anton Lyukyanov, Annie McKee, Emily Lubinski, Renado Tozer, Kelley Terwillegar, Madeleine Stencil-Swartz, Diadra Smith, Colleen Kearnes, Maya Felten budget: undisclosed established: 2010 Website: www.127thstdance.org Email: [email protected]

Email: [email protected]

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top: Josh Edwards & Lionel Flynn in Barbara Caioli’s Battito di Cuore (Walter Zamojski photo). Bottom: Barbara Caioli’s WEEDS (Walter Zamojski photo). 101

3rd Shift Dance

Khambatta Dance Company

Xaviera Vandermay, Artistic Director Ahnaleza Vandermay Weber, Associate Director

Cyrus Khambatta, Artistic Director 5 performances in Seattle

12 performances in Seattle

4 works: Cyrus Khambatta’s Truth and

Works: Midnight Organ Fight;

Francophile; Sharonda Young’s Been There, Done That; Back-up dance with band Fly Moon Royalty at Capitol Hill Block Party; Let You Go; Pedestrian Dance; Ohio; Landfill; Just to See You Smile; Bird Machine; Medicine; Philippa Myler’s 5,6,7,8; Drew Clark & Brianna Penrose’s Dark Paradise; Xaviera Vandermay & Suzanne Duckworth’s Rolling; Nightcall; At Last; Ten Thousand; 40 Day Dream; Lay Me Down; Wings. (All works choreographed by Xaviera Vandermay unless otherwise noted.)

Betrayal; A Moment Repeated; Kim; Ashutosh 5 dancers: Jeremy Cline, Ellen Cooper,

Alexandra Madera, Meredith Sallee, Kyle Williams 1 tour, 1 show: Portland, OR budget: undisclosed Left: Alexandra Madera & Kyle Williams in Cyrus Khambatta’s Truth and Betrayal (Colleen Cooke photo). Right: Cyrus Khambatta’s Vice and Virtue (2014; Briana Jones photo).

22 dancers: Katelyn Lodell, Paisley

established In Seattle: 2001 Website: www.KhambattaDance.org email: [email protected]

West, Krina Turner, Alex Wheelwright, Kristy Doyle, Joelle Klein, Chelsea Mathews-Jensen, Sharonda Young, Anna Scharer, Diadra Smith, Annie McKee, Ahnaleza Vandermay, Austin Sexton, Brittni Bryan, Brittany Mattox, Chloe Goolsby, Megan Riddle, Philippa Myler, Simone Triche, Xaviera Vandermay, Byanka Larkins, Maggie Purce 4 guest dancers: Drew Clark, Brianna

Penrose, Alexa Dorohoy, Tia Petersen 1 tour, 1 show: Portland, OR budget: undisclosed top: Xaviera Vandermay’s Been Done (Justen Weber photo). Bottom: Xaviera Vandermay (Kathie Statler photo).

established: 2010 Website: www.3rdshiftdance.org Email: [email protected]

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The New Animals Markeith Wiley, Artistic Director/Choreographer 
 5 performances in Seattle

@threshold

Works: The Deconstruction; The New Animals Present: RepSho!; TRE (where were you); What Goes Up; The New Animals Present: TRE (one for the homie)

Elia Mrak, Director

5 dancers: Jamie Karlovich, Molly Sides,

Calie Swedberg, Sean Tomerlin, Markeith Wiley 11 guest dancers: Christine Abdale, Jesse Buckingham, Anna Conner, Amy Escobar, Chloe Goolsby, Victoria Jacobs, Amy Johnson, Ella Mahler, Ale Medera, Baylee Drew Reynolds, Carol Thomson

works: AND.; erica; Los Samurai; a talk with myself; Touch collaborators: Erica Badgeley, Martin Piliponsky, Viko Kaizen 2 tours, 6 shows: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lima & Cusco, Peru budget: undisclosed

1 tour, 1 show: Ketchum, ID

established: 2013

budget: undisclosed

website: www.eliamrak.com

established: 2010

email: [email protected]

Website: thenewanimals.org Email: [email protected] top: Dancer/Choreographer Markeith Wiley (photo by Joseph Lambert/jazzy Photo). bottom: Jamie Karlovich in TRE (one for the homie) (Megumi Shauna Aria photo).

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6 performances in Seattle

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Top: elia mrak, viko kaizen, joel berning in elia mrak’s los samurai (tim summers photo). Bottom: erica badgeley in elia mrak’s erica (photo by Joseph Lambert/jazzy Photo).

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Scott/Powell Performance Mary (Molly) Sheldon Scott, Choreographer & Visual Artist Jarrad G. Powell, Composer Current Projects: Solo/Suite and a dance-on-film with videographer Robert Campbell (2014) Recent & upcoming commissions: Cornish Dance Theater

(2012), Velocity Dance Center’s Strictly Seattle (2012), Bellingham Repertory Dance (2013, 2015), University of Washington/ Dance (2015)  budget: undisclosed

The Cabiri

established: 1994

John S. Murphy, Artistic Director

Website: www.scottpowell.org

5 performances in Seattle

Email: [email protected] 

Works: John Murphy’s Gods of the Night; Kiplinn Sagmiller’s Ailuran; The Wild Hunt

TOP: Belle Wolf in HOME (2010; Peter Mumford photo). Bottom: GEOGRAPHY (2008; Peter Mumford photo).

11 dancers: John Murphy, Charly McCreary, April McMorris, Lauren Kettner, Erica Minako Sherman, Kiplinn Sagmiller, Marissa Smith, Mike Stephan, Warren Woo, Kirra Steinbruck, Jody Poth 5 guest dancers: Tanya Burka, Derek

Broussard, Ian Jagel, Sarah Brodsky, Sierra Catanzaro 1 tour, 3 shows: Pacific Northwest Budget: undisclosed Established: 1999 Website: www.cabiri.org Email: [email protected] both photos: John Murphy’s Gods of the Night (david rose photography photos). Top: John Murphy, Charly McCreary, Sierra Catazaro. Bottom: Sierra Catanzaro. 106

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Sheri Brown Dance, Company Sheri Brown, Artistic Director 3 performances in Seattle Works: Divided by Zero, Solo excavation; Androgynous Fool; Galaanza (as part of DAIPANbutoh Collective) dancers: Sheri Brown + the world

Karin Stevens Dance

6 guest dancers: Alan Sutherland,

Karin Stevens, Artistic Director, Choreographer, Performer

Douglas Ridings, Kaoru Okumura, Angela Martinelli, Victoria Jacobs, Amy B

2 performances in Seattle

1 tour, 1 show: Portland, OR budget: undisclosed

Works: Karin Stevens’ A Boy Was Born (with UW Chamber Singers); KSD’s Room Tones (for Theatre Suites)

established: 2011

4 dancers: Naphtali Beyleveld, Belle

Website: www.sheribrown.com Top: Sheri Brown & Momo Freehill in their Crosspollination (Young Phook Sa photo). Bottom: Sheri Brown’s Alice in Wonderland (Peter Demers photo).

Wolf, Anna Waller, Karin Stevens 3 guest dancers: Amy Weaver, Sarah

Mercer Seder, Bryon Carr budget: $5,000  established: 2009 Website: www.karinstevensdance.com Email: [email protected]

top: Anna Waller & Belle Wolf in A Boy Was Born (Craig van den Bosch photo). bottom: Bryon Carr, Michael Owcharuk (musician) & Karin Stevens in KSD’s room Tones (John Ulman Photography). 108

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Pacific Northwest Ballet Peter Boal, Artistic Director 83 performances in Seattle Works: Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette; George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco; Ulysses Dove’s Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven; Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room; Paul Gibson’s Mozart Pieces; Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake; Christopher Wheeldon’s Tide Harmonic; George Balanchine’s Agon; George Balanchine’s Diamonds; Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling; Twyla Tharp’s Waiting at the Station; Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs; Jirí Kylián’s Petite Mort; Jirí Kylián’s Sechs Tänze (Six Dances); Jirí Kylián’s
Forgotten Land; Crystal Pite’s Emergence; Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker

above: Lesley Rausch in Ulysses Dove’s Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven. Opposite page, top–bottom: Batkhurel Bold & Jonathan Porretta in JeanChristophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette; james Moore & benjamin griffiths in Paul Gibson’s Mozart Pieces; Jonathan Porretta, Kylee Kitchens, James Moore & Leah Merchant in Jirí Kylián’s Sechs Tänze. (All photos by Angela Sterling)

46 dancers: Chelsea Adomaitis, Jessika Anspach, Andrew Bartee, Leta Biasucci, Batkhurel Bold, Raphaël Bouchard, Ryan Cardea, Maria Chapman, Amanda Clark, Karel Cruz, Kyle Davis, Lindsi Dec, Rachel Foster, Jahna Frantziskonis, Kiyon Gaines, Angelica Generosa, Joshua Grant, Benjamin Griffiths, Eric Hipolito Jr., Carrie Imler, Kylee Kitchens, Carla Körbes, William Lin-Yee, Steven Loch, Elle Macy, Charles McCall, Leah Merchant, James Moore, Margaret Mullin, Elizabeth Murphy, Kaori Nakamura, Liora Neuville, Sarah Ricard Orza, Seth Orza, Sarah Pasch, Jonathan Porretta, Lesley Rausch, Brittany Reid, Matthew Renko, Carli Samuelson, Emma Love Suddarth, Price Suddarth, Jerome Tisserand, Laura Tisserand, Ezra Thomson, Christian Poppe

student dancers: 250+ in Nutcracker.

14 in Swan Lake: Isaac Aoki, Laurel Benson, Therese Davis, Enrico Hipolito, Alex Hyman, Kimberly Nobriga, Christian Poppe, Alison Remmers, Jacqueline Schiller, Madison Sugg, Demi Trezona, Julia Turner, Beila Ungar, Amy Young. 3 tours, 9 shows: Vail, CO; Victoria,

BC; New York, NY affiliated programs: PNB School,

PNB Summer School, PNB Open Program, Discover Dance, DanceChance budget: $21 million
 established: 1972 Website: www.pnb.org Email: [email protected]

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guest dancers: Uko Gorter, Tim

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letter from the editor: one scrap from the floor of the editing room

Ivory Smith in KT Niehoff’s Dream brain (Christian Hansen photo)

I’ve been an editor for 10+ years, so I’m inured to cutting copy. Sure, I might grieve the loss of a brilliant side-thought, but I cut to fit, minimize the damage, swear a little, and move on. This annual was not much different,



performances.

except when it came to listing

I thought about it again and again as I created this annual. Take Lingo Productions’ original list of the works they “COLLISION THEORY was a 16-month performance presented project. During the project’s extended duration, in 2013: Lingo invited audiences ranging from one to

In June 2012, Collision Theory began at On the Boards with Paper Trail. Built for a maximum audience

many to a series of interconnected immersions— dinners, films, letters, fashion shows, visual art,

of 15, the intimately scaled Paper Trail premiered on the music, and dance.  mainstage at On the Boards as part of the 2012 NW New Works festival. Paper Trail dotes on the romance of the hand-written letter and unfolds in the mainstage seats as small audiences are cycled in and paired off with each performer. At the end of the NW New Works festival, the cast selected a handful of folks who witnessed Paper Trail  to be pen pals for the duration of Collision Theory.

DREAM BRAIN, in March 2013, was a dance film premiere open to the public. Lingo Productions premiered

Sad City and Rain Beats Down—the two dance films created as a part of the Collision Theory project. With a cast of over 30 Seattle dancers, Rain Beats Down was filmed at the I-5 “overpass to nowhere” at the north end of the Arboretum (soon to be demolished).

In September 2012, Lingo hosted REUNION: A POP-UP GALLERY

After the completion of Paper Trail, Collision Theory performers continued to exchange letters with their audience. All were invited back to view their correspondence in a gallery setting: letters were dangling from the rafters, pasted on walls, some anonymous, some not. Attendees were encouraged to bring and share personal letters from their past—some even added them to the gallery.

The films were shot by cinematographers Christian Hansen (Sad City) and Sebastien Scandiuzzi and Linas Phillips (Rain Beats Down). They feature three original songs by KT Niehoff, Ivory Smith, and Scott Colburn.

In October 2012, Collision Theory continued with EMERALD CITY: I HAVE TO BE SEEN IN GREEN as a part of City Arts Fest. Hosted by

The seventh installment of Collision Theory, VIEWFINDER, was also presented in March 2013

Jill and Wayne Donnelly in Seattle’s iconic Baby & Co fashion boutique, Emerald City was an evening of high fashion, contemporary dance, live music, spectacle, and adornment. Produced in part by City Arts Fest, the performances happened all throughout the evening on staircases, platforms, and storefronts.

Housed in a gorgeous downtown gallery space, ViewFinder was an ongoing performance installation—audience members could come and go as they wish. Niehoff and her dancers collaborated with photographer Hayley Young to create an immersive environment of sound and movement in which anyone in the audience can use a myriad of cameras to capture images of their own choosing, at any time. This event was made possible by the generous support of Suyama Peterson Deguchi.

Collision Theory continued in December 2012 with RAUCOUS BACCHUS. The fourth affair of the Collision Theory journey was a night with no off-

switch, a carnal carnival of mad music, delirious dance, and a delightfully dangerous new drink, created just for the occasion. Over 200 attendees at the gorgeous Oola Distillery/10 degrees spaces enjoyed live music and dance performances of all shapes and sizes in every corner of the raucous party.

In April 2013, COLLISION THEORY: THE FINALE premiered at On the Boards. Following months filled with

In February 2013, Collision Theory presented TIP OF THE TONGUE The fifth and most intimate event of the Collision Theory project was Tip

multiple immersions, including music releases, dinner parties, films, fashion shows, and quiet pen-pal exchanges, the Finale distilled

of the Tongue—a dinner of exquisite bites, luscious liquids, and fancifully guided encounters. The cast of Collision Theory was joined by chef Tyler Moritz (creator of La Bête restaurant), Kirby Kallas-Lewis (owner of Oola Distillery), and gifts from the wine cellar of Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous.

a year’s worth of activity into an intimate yet Cutting this down to a catalogue listing for page 97 was painful. I consoled myself ambitiously scaled with the following happy thought that Lingo’s project highlighted for me: There are evening of dance those who want their media mixed, their genres blended, the fourth wall removed... and music.”
 And there are those who don’t... And there are those who like it both ways. What rocked about dance in Seattle in 2013 is that IT WAS a good time to watch/experience/create a performance in Seattle, no matter which t ype(s) you were.

Twenty guests attended the evening, hosted at the exquisite home of Richard Hesik and Barbara Johns. Designed by renowned architect Tom Kundig, the home is sited on an iconic Northwest waterfront setting in West Seattle. Guests were served a dinner and experience that honed their senses and focused their apertures on composed arrangements of tastes, sounds, smells, and visual experiences. 112

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Venues & Festivals 14 organizations that bring us together & give us a place for dance UW World Series Seattle Theatre Group On the Boards DAIPANbutoh Collective’s Seattle Butoh Festival BOOST dance festival Men in Dance: Against the Grain since 1996 Chop Shop: Bodies of Work Seattle International Dance Festival Fremont Abbey Arts Center 10 Degrees Open Flight Studio Websites: DanceNet & SeattleDances Velocity Dance Center

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seattle Theatre Group Josh LaBelle, Executive Director

UW World Series

5 dance performances presented

Michelle Witt, Executive Director of Meany Hall & Artistic Director of UW World Series

4 dance companies: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Chicago, IL); DANCE This (Seattle, WA); Gregory Maqoma/Vuyani Dance Theatre (South Africa); Global Dance Party (Seattle, WA)

18 dance performances presented 6 dance companies: Compagnie Marie Chouinard (Montreal, Canada); Black Grace (Auckland, New Zealand); Trey McIntyre Project (Boise, Idaho); Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (New York, USA); AXIS Dance Company (San Francisco, USA); MOMIX (New York, USA)

Budget: undisclosed Began presenting dance: 15+

years ago Website: www.stgpresents.org

Budget: undisclosed

Email: [email protected]

began presenting dance: 1978 Website: uwworldseries.org Email: [email protected]

right: Axis Dance Company­. Sebastian Grubb & Joel Brown in Sebastian Grubb’s The Narrowing (Elizabeth Vienneau photo). Left: Compagnie Marie Chouinard. Mathilde Monnard & Dominique Porte in Chouinard’s adaptation of The Rite of Spring (Marie Chouinard photo).

top: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in Sharon Eyal’s Too Beaucoup (Todd Rosenberg photo). bottom: DANCE This: Siya Manyakyanaka & Etienne Cakpo’s African (Christopher Nelson photo). 116

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DAIPANbutoh Collective’s seattle summer butoh festival Active Members of the Collective: Sheri Brown, Joan Laage, Helen Thorsen, Diana García-Snyder, Kaoru Okumura, Maureen “Momo” Freehill, Will Fred 30 days 6 shows, 1 outreach program:

Galaanza (Sheri Brown, Helen Thorsen, Joan Laage, Diana García-Snyder, Kaoru Okumura, Vanessa Skantze, Danse Perdue, Douglas Ridings, Alan Sutherland, Lin Lucas, Consuelo Gonzales, Lela Besom, Laura Oriol (PDX), Jacob Mooney (PDX), David Noble, Camille Hildebrandt & Dmitry Artamonov (Studio 36/Port Townsend), Jodi Netzer (Tucson), Seattle All-City Marching Band, Brazilian Choro Loco band); Instrument of Surrender (produced by Helen Thorsen, with Lin, Mary, Vanessa, Compass, Joan, and more); Heart Sutra on the Road (a live calligraphy and butoh performance: Yoshiko Higashimura with Kaoru Okumura, Aoi Lee, Shoko Zama, Chigusa Kitai); Wondering & Wandering (directed by Joan Laage, with dancers Bruce Fogg, Joan Laage, Lin Lucas, Kaoru Okumura, Apple Martine, Julia Parsons, Stephen Passero, Sheri Brown); Suitcases Project (directed by Joan Laage, with Sheri Brown, Chris Jarmick, Lin Lucas, Kaoru Okumura, David Thornbrugh, Helen Thorsen); Site-specific performance at Olympic Sclpture Park (directed by Diana Garcia-Snyder, with Joan Laage & Sheri Brown); Nature-Based Butoh Training & Performance Fest at Butopia

on the boards Lane Czaplinski, Artistic Director 16 dance performances presented 5 dance companies: Heather Kravas (Seattle & New York, USA); MontesquieuVolvestre (France); Gregory Maqoma/ Vuyani Dance Theatre (Soweto, South Africa); Jérôme Bel (Paris, France); Dayna Hanson (Seattle, USA) other dance Presented: In 2013,

On the Boards’ 12 Minutes Max short performance showcases highlighted the work of many local dance/movement artists. budget:
undisclosed Began presenting dance: 1978 Website: ontheboards.org Email: [email protected]

top: Heart Sutra on the Road (Tomoko Jones photo). Bottom: SHERI BROWN’S PERFORMANCE PROJECT AT ART ON THE FLY (HOWARD SNYDER photo).

Also Presented: DAIPANbutoh Collective also presents works by its members and other local and international butoh artists throughout the year. top: Dayna Hanson & Thomas Graves in Dayna Hanson’s The Clay Duke (Karel Zwaneveld photo). Bottom: Liz Santoro & Cecilia Eliceche in Heather Kravas’ The Quartet (Jenny Peterson photo). 

budget:
2009 Established: 1990 Website: www.daipanbutoh.com Email: [email protected]

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boost dance Festival Marlo Martin & Kristen Legg, Co-Directors 2 nights 2 performances 9 companies: Elia Mrak (erika); Anna

Conner (A Nest in Luna); Michelle Miller (What We Have); Marlo Martin (Without Context or Provocation); Sarah Kathryn Olds (murTOWN); Maryann McGovern (A Recipe for Polarity Part 1: Cacophony); Kristen Legg (An Irritating Cerebral Itch (an excerpt)); Alana O Rogers (ID); Maya Soto (Declaration of War (An excerpt from Gathering Bones))

men in dance: Against the Grain since 1996 Producing Board: Kyle Cable, Steve Casteel, Raymond Houle, Brenda Howald, Richard Jessup (President), Gary Reed, Gerard Theoret, Deborah Wolf 2013 outreach program: Create

Your Performance (workshop for boys and men)

affiliation: BOOST dance festival is

produced by eXit SPACE

6 performances presented in 2012: As a biennial Festival, Men in Dance

budget: undisclosed

did not perform in 2013, but has been preparing to celebrate its 20-year/10thanniversary festival in 2014.

established: 2010 Website: www.boostdancefestival.com 

choreographers presented in 2012: Anthony Peters, Bill Wade,

Email: [email protected] 

Christopher Montoya, Deb Wolf, Geoff Johnson, Iyun Harrison, Jason Ohlberg, Josh Romero, Kaleidoscope, Markeith Wiley, Mike Esperanza, Olivier Wevers, Paula Peters, Robert Dekkers, Wade Madsen budget:
undisclosed Began presenting dance: 1996 Website: www.MeninDance.org Email: [email protected] top: Karena Birk in Kristen Legg’s An Irritating Cerebral Itch (Redd Legg Dance). bottom: Anne Molt, Danica Bito, Nadia Losonsky in Marlo Martin’s Without Context or Provocation (badmarmarDANCE). Both photos by Joseph Lambert/ Jazzy Photo. 120

top: Markeith Wiley, Christopher McCallister, Sean Tomerlin in Deborah Wolf’s Crash of Days (2012; Colleen Dishy photo). right: Ezra Thomson in Barry Kerollis’ cypher (2010; Angela Sterling photo).

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seattle International Dance Festival top: Noa Shiloh in Idan Cohen’s performance of Idan Cohen’s Wayfarer (Dani Berman photo). bottom: Kelly Bond in Maida Withers Dance Construction Company’s performance of Maida Withers’ Collision Course – a.k.a. Pillow Talk (Shuan Schroth photo).

Chop Shop: Bodies of Work Eva Stone, Producer/Curator 7 days 2 shows, 5 outreach programs 10 companies: Spectrum Dance Theater (Scorched); Shayla Bott & Company (Elan Vital); MOVE: the company (Pierced); Heather Dotto (Gift); The Stone Dance Collective (Eve, reconsidered); Bennyroyce Dance Productions (heartstrings); Andrew Bartee (emotions.); Mid-Columbia Ballet (Set Theory); Kiyon Gaines (C’est “2”); Pocket INC. (Grace, in arm’s length) budget: undisclosed Established: 2008 Website: www.chopshopdance.org Email: [email protected]

 

Cyrus Khambatta, Artistic Director 10 days 60 performances 40+ companies: Tere Mathern Dance; Idan Cohen (Wayfarer); Yurek Hansen & Manimou Camara (Khounlande); Kokoro Dance (A Simple Way); Khambatta Dance Company (Truth and Betrayal); Paige Barnes (Coyote); Corrie Befort (Aphorisms); Alice Gosti; Beth Graczyk (Celia); Jody Kuehner; Danny Long (My Life as a Black Gay Housewife); Devin Mcdermott (The Marble Made Our Cheeks Look Pink); Lou Henry Hoover (Future Purchase); Amelia Reeber (We Need Another Saxophone!); Shannon Stewart (Come.Get.To.This); Allie Hankins (Like a Sun That Pours Forth Light But Never Warmth); Danielle Ross (Together We Fall); Lotus Body/Tara Dyberg (Net// Works); Umami Performance (Constellation Half-Remembered); Kate Wallich + The YC (It girl and them); Amy Johnson (Madmen); Badmarmardance (excerpt of Without Context or Provocation); Coriolis Dance (Insofar as the landscopic field report); Ashani Dances (Like Sand Through My Fingers); Maida Withers Dance Construction Company (Collision Course – a.k.a. Pillow Talk); Dancing People Company (Threshold); Jennifer Mcleish-Lewis (Lucid); Wuza Wuza & Version Excursion (Full Circle) budget: undisclosed

top: Jahna Frantziskonis & Issac Aoki (courtesy of Pacific Northwest Ballet School) in Kiyon Gaines’ C’est “2” (Rex Tranter photo). Bottom: Paige Kolbrick, Alex Crozier, Risa Larsen in Pocket Inc.’s performance of Vincent Michael Lopez’s Grace, in arm’s length (Rex Tranter photo).

established: 2006 Website: www.SeattleIDF.org Email: [email protected] 

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10 Degrees exterior & interior

10 degrees KT Niehoff, Director purpose: 10 Degrees is a performance

and creative residency space in Capitol Hill. Artists’ costs are subsidized by event rentals. Current artists in residence:

KT Niehoff, Jody Keuhner, Peggy Piacenza, Salt Horse

Fremont Abbey Arts Center

Former artists in residence:

Markeith Wiley, Jessica Jobaris, Shannon Stewart, Mary Margaret Moore

Nathan Marion, Director Tori McConnell, Dance Curator

budget: undisclosed

purpose: The Abbey is a space for artists

established: 2011

to be involved in creative process and rehearsal. It is also a venue for emerging artists to co-produce or self-produce shows.

Website: www.10degreesseattle.com Email: [email protected]

4 dance Performances

top: Victoria McConnell & Kenaniah Bystrom in Project29’s Ode to exhalation and a spark (Eratosthenes Fackenthall photo). bottom: Mariko Nagashima, Echo Norris, Jana Kincl in Alana O Rogers’ SIGHT (Ernie Sapiro photo).

4 dance Companies: Lotus Body; CabinFever; Jody Kuehner in NEW: A Celebration of the Creative Process by Elaina Ellis; Entropy (as part of the SeattleDances fundraiser) budget: undisclosed began presenting dance: 2010 Website: www.fremontabbey.org Email: [email protected] 

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some websites supporting dance & dancers in Seattle offering: Reviews, previews, interviews,

editorials, callboard, calendar, directory About: SeattleDances is Seattle’s link to all

Offering: Listserv, calendar, resource

directory for the Seattle dance community

Open Flight Studio Partners: Paige Barnes, Aiko Kinoshita, Amelia Reeber & Rosa Vissers Purpose: OFS strives to enable the goals

& pursuits of individual artists, groups & art advocates through affordable rental space, space grants, artist residencies & curated programming. It is a space for performancebased artists to research, experiment, develop, teach, dialogue & perform. 3 performances (2012–2013) 3 companies: UMAMI Performance

(2013); Stephanie Skura (2012); HERE/ NOW (2012) 2013 Artist-in-Residence: Beth

Graczyk top: Open Flight Studio (Marc Carter photo.) left: students of Etienne Cakpo’s African Dance class at open flight studio (Etienne Cakpo photo).

2012 Artists-in-Residence: Jessica

Jobaris & Kristin Hapke 2012 Flight Deck Summer Space Grant Recipients: Christin Call/

monthly newsletter focused on the Seattle dance community and functioned both as a record of accomplishments and a vehicle for creating opportunities and sharing information. Other print materials included a “Dancer’s Yellow Pages.” The project transitioned to a website and listserv currently including community calendar, resource listings, and blog access. DanceNet continues to facilitate communication about dance in the Northwest. Editor: Tim Summers Contributors: Initial assistance from

Corrie Befort, Andre Bouchard, Laura Curry, Beth Graczyk, Sandra Kurtz, Joan Laage, Moira MacDonald, Lodi McClellan, Erin Mitchell, Fumi Murikami, Caroline Renard, Francia Russell, Sean Ryan, Michele Steinwald, Vera Schimmelbusch, Beth Schlandky, Maria Simpson, Kent Stowell, Tim Summers, Jana Wilcoxen, among many others.

Budget: undisclosed

Established: Print edition established in 1992 by KT Niehoff, Kara O’Toole, A.C. Peterson & Wendy Quesinberry. Online edition established in 2004 by Tim Summers & Robert Stumberger.

Established: 2003

Website: http://www.seattledancenet.org

Website: www.openflightstudio.org

Email: [email protected] & [email protected]

Natascha Murphy (Coriolis Dance Collective), Jody Kuehner

EMAIL: [email protected]

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ABOUT: DanceNet was founded as a

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things dance. Through exclusive previews, engaging editorials, and timely reviews, SeattleDances tracks the pulse of the Seattle dance scene. We strive to increase city-wide appreciation of dance and act as a resource to the dance community as a whole. The site creates an opportunity to watch, learn, question, ponder, and discuss dance and dance-related topics. With a comprehensive calendar of dance events, as well as listings of auditions and workshops, SeattleDances is a centralized source for dance information. Anyone interested in dance is welcome here, from patrons to professional dancers and from dedicated students to art lovers seeking to learn more about dance. editors: Mariko Nagashima & Anna Waller contributors: Karena Birk, Jessica

Fishman, Imana Gunawan, Charlotte Hart, Kathryn Hightower, Emily Lubinski, Carla María Negrete Martínez, Kaitlin McCarthy, Ciara McCormack, Gabrielle Kazuko Nomura Established: 2009 by Rosie Gaynor.

Subsequent owners/editors: Kirsten Legg (2010 to 2012), Mariko Nagashima (2012 to 2013), Mariko Nagashima & Anna Waller (2013 to present). Website: www.seattledances.com EMAIL: [email protected]

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Velocity Dance Center Tonya Lockyer, Executive & Artistic Director

52 Velocity-Commissioned performances in Seattle, plus SCUBA national Touring network for dance presented 150+ original works / 80+ companies / 400+ artists The Bridge Project: Elia Mrak; Chris

McCallister; Brittani Karhoff; Amy Johnson Made in Seattle: Ezra Dickinson SCUBA: Green Chair Dance Group (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); Maureen Whiting Dance Company; Shannon Stewart Strictly Seattle: zoe | juniper; Mark

Haim; KT Niehoff; Marlo Martin; Ellie Sandstrom; Ricki Mason  Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation (SFDI): John Jasperse

(New York, NY); Sara Shelton Mann (San Francisco, California); Chris Aiken (Massachusetts); Shelley Senter (New York, NY); Michael Schumacher (US / Netherlands); Amii Legendre (New York, NY); Ann Cooper Albright; Stephanie Skura; Louis Gervais; Karen Nelson; John Dixon (North Carolina); Lower Left Performance Collective (various); Jill Sigman (New York, NY); Heidi Henderson (Rhode Island); Salt Horse; Tonya Lockyer

ABOVE: Yukio Suzuki/KINGYO at Velocity’s Fall Kick-Off + BIG BANG! (Tim summers photo). Opposite page, TOP: Matt Drews in Matt Drews + CoulliettE from the Pendleton House’s | bardo | at Velocity’s Next Fest NW: TOUCH (Tim summers photo). Opposite page, bottom: Sarah Butler in Alex Ketley’s Memory is Parallax (tim summers photo). 128

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Project; Erica Badgeley; Babette Pendleton McGeady; Jackie An; Coriolis; Ashani Dances; The New Animals; Heather Kravas (NYC/Paris/Seattle); Corrie Befort; Etienne Cakpo; Dayna Hanson; Lena Simon; Jacob Rosen; Danielle Blackwell; Joseph Lambert; Jul Kostelancik; Rachel Green; Belle Wolf; Vanessa DeWolf; Douglas Ridings; Wes Hurley; Sean B. Cormack; Salami Bros.; Calie Swedberg; Alice Gosti; Ryan Law; Juliet Pruzan; Adria LaMorticella; Dani Long; Jeffrey Frace; Jim Kent; Amelia Reeber; ilvs strauss; PE|Mo; Markeith Wiley; Katie Kate; Wishbeard; Iska Dhaaf; Molly Sides Speakeasy Series: Gregory Maqoma with Tonya Lockyer; Joan Laage; Maya Soto; Charles “Zan” Christensen; Jennifer K. Stuller; Jo Jo Stiletto; Kelly Froh & Eroyn Franklin; Alia Swersky; Ezra Dickinson Next Fest NW + Next Dance Cinema: Performances: Alana O Rogers;

Coleman Pester/Tectonic Marrow Society;

Nathan Blackwell; Dylan Ward; GENDER TENDER; kt shores; Matt Drews + Coulliette [The Pendleton House]. Dance Cinema: Steve Paxton; RAMMATIK (Faroe Islands); Adriano Cirulli (Italy); Audrey Bergeron (Montreal); Katrina McPhearson (UK); plus 19 national & Northwest artists. Audience Lab: Vanessa DeWolf. What We Talk About When We Talk About. . . Facilitators: zoe | juniper;

Mandy Greer; Jeffry Mitchell; Pat Graney; Tonya Lockyer Seattle Youth Dance Collective:

25 participants ONGOING PROGRAMS: Master Class Series, Artist-in-Residence & Creative Resident Programs, ongoing classes, Investigative Movement Practices (IMP), Access Velocity (34 independently produced performances in Velocity’s theater) 2013 dance budget: $586,000 Began presenting dance: 2001

Guest Artist Series: Daniel Linehan

(founded 1996)

(Brussels); Jeremy Wade (Berlin); Andrew Harwood (Montreal); Idan Cohen (Israel)

Website: velocitydancecenter.org

Fall Kick-Off + BIG BANG!: Pat

ONLINE PLATFORM: STANCE at

Graney; Spectrum Dance Theater; Amy O’Neal; Jody Kuehner (AKA Cherdonna Shinatra); Anna Conner; Seattle Dance

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velocitydancecenter.org/stance Email: [email protected]

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Links to Reviews, Etc. what are those red asterisks for? In the PDF version of Seattle Dance Annual 2013, most URLs and red asterisks are live links. This section shows the links behind those red asterisks, so folks reading the hard copy of the book can access the specified sites as well. Many of these links lead to dance reviews.

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links Note that hyphens at the end of a line break are actually part of the URL and so will need to be typed in. photographers

Page 17: stance www.velocitydancecenter.org/stance/ page 21: Paula Peters http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=2B6Mslm1ej8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= BIiZuAVZH4w&feature=related pg 22: Paula Peters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= C6Cb7YYJDxw&feature=related page 24: Paula Peters http://www.contemporaryjazzdance. com/about/ Pages 28–29: Marcie Sillman www.marciesillman.com/ www.marciesillman.com/2013/11/feedingbeast-or-why-i-love-crystal-pite.html

www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2021816418_linehanreviewxml.html

Pages 46–47: Gigi Berardi myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/gberardi/

www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2021985658_spectrumreviewxml.html

myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/gberardi/ performing/articles.shtml

www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2021239628_spectrumreviewxml.html

www.blog.gigiberardi.com

Pages 36–37: Dean Speer upf.com/book.asp?id=SPEER001 www.criticaldance.org/2013/10/06/pacificnorthwest-ballet-air-twyla-program/ www.criticaldance.org/2013/07/31/arcdance-company-summer-dance-at-thecenter/ www.ballet-dance.com/forum/viewtopic. php?f=5&t=37023 Pages 38–39: Alice Kaderlan http://blog.seattlepi.com/ feetfirst/2013/11/13/588/

Pages 30–31: Mariko Nagashima www.seattledances.com

Pages 40–41: Melody ELENA Datz www.thestranger.com/seattle/melodydatz/Author?oid=14030201

Pages 32–33: Moira Macdonald www.seattletimes.com/

www.velocitydancecenter.org/stance/

seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2020787019_pnbreviewxml.html seattletimes.com/html/thearts /2021007706_trockaderoreviewxml.html www.seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/ thearts/2020590152_pnbreviewxml.html www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2020288248_romeoreviewxml.html Pages 34–35: Michael Upchurch www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2021010987_whimwhimreviewxml.html www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2020170035_whimwhimreviewxml.html www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2020212373_meanyreviewxml.html www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2020654563_seattledanceproject reviewxml.html www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2019422440_dr13menindance.html#. UHnxAyKctgE.facebook www.seattletimes.com/html/thearts/ 2020944847_ezrareviewxml.html

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Pages 48–49: Ivy Raines www.teentix.org/blog/category/reviews Pages 50–51: Rachel Gallaher www.cityartsonline.com/authors/rachelgallaher www.graymag.net/ www.cityartsmagazine.com/pnb’s-‘swanlake’-star-season www.cityartsmagazine.com/articles/ exitexist-cultural-celebration www.cityartsmagazine.com/ezradickinson%E2%80%99s-triumph-andtribute Pages 52–55: Sandra Kurtz www.historylink.org/index. cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_ id=10638

www.thestranger.com/seattle/notwo-performances-will-be-the-same/ Content?oid=16701373 Pages 42–43: Anna Waller www.seattledances.com www.seattledances.com/2013/02/ mayhem-holds-sway-at-hot-mess/ www.seattledances.com/2013/07/itsgonna-be-great-cherdonna-and-louslast-hurrah/ www.seattledances.com/2013/07/traceleaves-its-mark/ www.seattledances.com/2013/11/showingout-showcases-black-choreographic-voices/ www.seattledances.com/2013/06/acelebratory-close-to-pnbs-40thanniversary-season/ www.seattledances.com/2013/06/ spectrum-basks-in-sex-death-and-a-wholelotta-love/ www.seattledances.com/2013/10/irondaisies-verges-on-catharsis/

opposite page, left–right, top–bottom: Andrew Bartee in Olivier Wevers’ More (Whim W’Him; Bamberg Fine Art photo); The Pendleton House promo shot: Matt Drews, Ariana Bird & Dylan Ward (Makenzie Stone photo); Allison Sale in Coleman Pester’s Tectonic Marrow Society (Cullie Poseria photo); Nelson Madrigal & April Daly in International Ballet Theatre’s Don Quixote (Rex Tranter photo); Shadou Mintrone, Jade Solomon Curtis & William Burden in Curtis’ It Is My Experience (Showing Out; Sandra Brierley Photo); Dayna Hanson & Peggy Piacenza in Dayna Hanson’s the Improvement Club (Benjamin Kasulke photo). S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

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Photographers & Photo Credits Thanks to the photographers, whose art also supports dance Megumi Shauna Aria Bamberg Fine Art Andrea Basile Michelle Bates Quinn Batson Dani Berman Gabriel Bienczycki Chris Blakeley Sandra Brierley Stephen Byrne Phill Cabeen Etienne Cakpo Marc Carter Marie Chouinard Jim Clymer Commence Vision Photo Anna Conner Colleen Cooke Gabriel Corey John Cornicello David Rose Photography Peter Demers Colleen Dishy Bret Doss Christopher Duggan Eratosthenes Fackenthall Denis Farley FotoMoto Photography Kate Hailey 134

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Grant Halverson Christian Hansen Hayley Young Photography John Hogg Joy Jacobs Briana Jones Tomoko Jones Joseph Lambert/Jazzy Photo Benjamin Kasulke Kelly O/The Stranger Aiko Kinoshita Steve Korn Brian Liesse Hayley McLain Herbert Migdoll Peter Mumford Christopher Nelson Dejan Nicik Eric Paguio Sylvie-Ann Paré Paul Sanders Photography Don Perdue Jenny Peterson POC Photo Cullie Poseria Todd Rosenberg Nicolas Ruel Young Phook Sa Aurora Santiago

Ernie Sapiro Shuan Schroth Adam Sekuler Michelle Smith-Lewis Howard Snyder Jason Somma Herman Sorgeloos Kathie Statler Angela Sterling Makenzie Stone Tim Summers Lindsay Thomas Bruce Tom Byron Towns Tino Tran Rex Tranter John Ulman Rodrigo Valenzuela Craig van den Bosch Mark van Borstel Elizabeth Vienneau Nate Watters Justen Weber Garet Wolfe Chris Yetter Walter Zamojski Dieter Zander Zebravisual Karel Zwaneveld 135

photographers’ contact information photographers

Megumi Shauna Arai megumishauna.com [email protected] Kim Bamberg, Adam Bamberg, Molly Magee Bamberg Fine Art www.BambergFineArt.com www.LaViePhoto.com [email protected] QUinn Batson www.qbphoto.com Chris Blakeley http://www.blakeleyphoto.com https://www.flickr.com/photos/csb13 [email protected] Marc Carter Marc Carter Photography www.marccarter.com [email protected] Anna Conner +CO annaconnerandco.com [email protected] https://vimeo.com/90593449 John Cornicello Cornicello Photography www.cornicello.com [email protected] Colleen Dishy www.colleendishyphotography.com [email protected] or [email protected]

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Bret Doss Bret Doss Photography www.BretDossPhotography.com http://bretdossphoto.com [email protected] Video also FotoMoto Photography https://www.facebook.com/FotoMotoPhotography Video also Joy Jacobs Joy Jacobs Photography www.joyjacobs.com [email protected] Video also (no editing)

Jenny Peterson www.jennypeterson.com [email protected] Cullie Poseria http://cposeria.wix.com/cpdp Video also Paul Sanders Paul Sanders Photography http://paulsanders.com [email protected] Aurora G. Santiago www.flickr.com/photos/santiagoa/ [email protected]

Briana Jones http://brianajones.daportfolio.com [email protected] Steve Korn Steve Korn Photo www.SteveKornPhoto.com [email protected] Joseph Lambert Jazzy Photo www.JazzyPhoto.com www.Facebook.com/JazzyPhotoFan [email protected] Video also Molly Magee see listing under Bamberg

Michelle Smith-Lewis Michelle Smith-Lewis Photography www.msmithlewis.com [email protected] Tim Summers Summers Photography www.dancephotography.org [email protected] Video also Lindsay Thomas http://lindsaythomas.zenfolio.com www.youtube.com/pacificnwballet [email protected] Video also Bruce Clayton Tom [email protected]

Paul O’Connell POC Photo pocphoto.com [email protected]

Byron Towns http://btphotog.tumblr.com

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Tino Tran Tino Tran Photography www.tinotran.com www.phototino.com [email protected] Video also Rex Tranter Rex Tranter Photography http://rxtranter.smugmug.com [email protected] John Ulman John Ulman Photography, LLC johnulmanphoto.com [email protected] Craig van den Bosch van den Bosch Studios www.vandenboschphoto.com www.vandenboschstudios.com [email protected] Video also Nate Watters [email protected] http://www.natewatters.com/ Chris Yetter CJYPhoto www.cjyphoto.com [email protected] Dieter Zander Dieter Zander Photography www.DieterZander.com [email protected]

Apologies to those photographers I was unable to reach for contact information. Please visit www.seattledanceannual.com to learn how to have your information included in the additions & errata section of the website. Thanks! –rg

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photo credits

for pages where the full credit is not already noted

Front Cover

Ezra Dickinson in his mother for you i made this (Velocity Dance Center; Tim Summers photo)

karin stevens (Dieter zander photo)

Opening look of TRE (the new animals; Megumi Shauna Aria photo)

Sarah Lustbader & Emily Sferra in Elana Jacobs’ Heart Content (Joy Jacobs photo)

pacific northwest ballet dancers in crystal Pite’s Emergence (angela sterling photo)

Carrie Imler & Carla Körbes in george balanchine’s Concerto Barocco (pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling)

Table of Contents pacific northwest ballet dancers in george balanchine’s concerto barocco (angela sterling photo) ANdrew Bartee in Anabelle Lopez Ochoa’s L’effleuré (Whim W’him; Bamberg Fine Art photo) pacific northwest ballet dancers in crystal Pite’s Emergence (angela sterling photo)

Rachel Foster & Joshua Grant in crystal Pite’s Emergence (pacific northwest ballet; angela sterling photo)

Kiyon Gaines & Charles McCall in crystal Pite’s Emergence (pacific northwest ballet; angela sterling photo)

Storme Sundberg in Twyla Tharp’s The Fugue (UW Chamber Dance Company; Steve Korn photo)

Moira Macdonald, Pages 32–33

Still shot from Lingo Productions’ film Rain Beats Down, part of Collision Theory (Sebastien Scandiuzzi & Linas Phillips cinematographers)

Marcie Sillman, Pages 28–29 ANdrew Bartee in Anabelle Lopez Ochoa’s L’effleuré (Whim W’him; Bamberg Fine Art photo)

Ezra Dickinson in his mother for you i made this (Velocity Dance Center; Kelly O/the stranger photo)

Elle Macy, Sarah Pasch & Chelsea Adomaitis with company dancers in Twyla Tharp’s Waiting at the Station (pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

pacific northwest ballet dancers in crystal Pite’s Emergence (angela sterling photo) Carla Körbes in Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake (Pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

Mariko Nagashima, Pages 30–31

Cédric Andrieux in Jérôme Bel’s Cédric Andrieux (Herman Sorgeloos photo)

crystal pite in rehearsal for her emergence at Pacific NOrthwest Ballet (Lindsay Thomas photo)

Kaori Nakamura & James Moore in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette (Pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

Jim Kent & Jessie Smith in Dayna Hanson’s Improvement Club (Benjamin Kasulke photo) les ballets Trockadero de monte carlo’s Swan Lake promo shot (courtesy UW World Series; Sascha Vaughn photo)

Ezra Dickinson in his mother for you i made this (Velocity Dance Center; Tim Summers photo)

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Michael Upchurch, Pages 34–35

ANdrew Bartee in Olivier Wevers’ More (Whim W’him; Bamberg Fine Art photos)

Daniel Linehan in his Not About Everything (Velocity Dance Center; Jason Somma photo)

compagnie Marie Chouinard in Marie CHouinard’s The Rite of Spring at UW World Series (Nicolas Ruel photo)

Seattle Dance Project dancers in Jason Ohlberg’s Gloria (Tim Summers photo)

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Alice Kaderlan, Pages 38–39

Shadou Mintrone & Jade Solomon Curtis in cyrus Khambatta’s Truth and Betrayal (Spectrum Dance Theater; Tino Tran photo)

Bruce McCormick, Jason Ohlberg & Storme Sundberg in Twyla Tharp’s The Fugue (UW Chamber Dance Company; Steve Korn photo)

Ezra Dickinson in his mother for you i made this (Velocity Dance Center; Nate Watters photo) James Moore in Twyla Tharp’s Waiting at the Station (pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

pacific northwest ballet dancers in crystal Pite’s Emergence (angela sterling photo)

Spectrum Dance Theater dancers in Donald Byrd’s Prodigal (Tino Tran photo)

Graham Gobeille & Danny Ryan in Marie Chong’s Reflection (arc; Paul Sanders)

jennifer Chicheportiche in moses pendleton’s Botanica (momix; courtesy UW World Series; Don Perdue photo)

Carrie Imler with Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers in george Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco (Angela Sterling photo)

Jacqueline Burnett, Jessica Tong, Robyn Mineko Williams, Penny Saunders, Kellie Epperheimer in Ohad Naharin’s three to max (Hubbard Street Dance Chicago; Todd Rosenberg photo)

Ela Lamblin & Leah Mann on the Violcano from Heavy Metal DëVices (lelavision; Michelle Bates photo Batkhurel Bold & Lindsi Dec in crystal Pite’s Emergence (pacific northwest ballet; angela sterling photo)

Taryn Jansen in Iyun Ashani Harrison’s ARTIFACT (ashani dances; Joseph Lambert/Jazzy Photo)

Dean Speer, Pages 36–37

Alexis Convento & Bennyroyce Royon from Bennyroyce Dance Productions (Quinn Batson photo)

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Lucien Postlewaite & Lara Seefeldt in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s CRAVE (whim w’Him; Bamberg Fine Art photo)

Jason Ohlberg & Fausto Rivera in Zvi Gotheiner’s Brazilian Duets (UW Chamber Dance company; Steve Korn)

Whim W’Him dancers in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s CRAVE (Bamberg Fine Art photo)

Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers in Twyla Tharp’s Waiting at the Station (Angela Sterling photo Sean Rosado in Iyun Ashani Harrison’s ARTIFACT (ashani dances; Joseph Lambert/Jazzy Photo)

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Gregory Maqoma in his Exit/Exist (Gregory Maqoma/Vuyani Dance Theater; John Hogg photo)

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Anna Waller, Pages 42–43

Sonsherée Giles & Rodney Bell in Marc Brew’s Full of Words (AXIS Dance Company; courtesy UW World Series; Andrea Basile photo)

Rachel Grant’s The Marshmallow Test from hot mess (Kate Hailey photo)

Melody Elena Datz, Pages 40–41

Aiko Kinoshita & Aaron Swartzman of Umami Performance in their Constellation Half-Remembered - Harbor (Bruce Tom photo) Liz Santoro in Heather Kravas’ The Quartet (On the boards; Jenny Peterson photo)

Ezra Dickinson in his mother for you i made this (Velocity Dance Center; Nate Watters photo)

Color Lines Dance Ensemble in a piece by Dani Tirrell (Central district forum for art; Sandra Brierley of Red Crow Photography)

Rosemary Jones, Pages 44–45

Carrie Imler in Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake (Pacific Northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

Kate Monthy & Vincent Michael Lopez in Donald Byrd’s Autopsy of Love with Ty Alexander Cheng, pianist Judith Cohen, bass/baritone Clayton Brainerd (Spectrum dance Theater; Nate Watters photo)

Cédric Andrieux in Jérôme Bel’s Cédric Andrieux (Herman Sorgeloos photo)

Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers in Twyla Tharp’s Waiting at the Station (Angela Sterling photo

Twyla Tharp, with Pacific Northwest Ballet dancer Jahna Frantziskonis, during her lecture-demonstration on September 25, 2013, at McCaw Hall. (Lindsay Thomas/PNB photo)

Twyla Tharp, with Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers, during her lecturedemonstration on September 25, 2013, at McCaw Hall. (Lindsay Thomas/PNB photo)

Noelani Pantastico in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette (Pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

Lucien Postlewaite & Annabelle Lopez Ochoa in Ochoa’s Before after (whim w’Him; Bamberg Fine Art photo)

ANdrew Bartee in Anabelle Lopez Ochoa’s L’effleuré (Whim W’him; Bamberg Fine Art photo)

Derek Crescenti & Shadou Mintrone in cyrus Khambatta’s Truth and Betrayal (Spectrum dance theater; Tino Tran photo)

Rachel Foster & Jerome Tisserand in Jirí Kylián’s Forgotten Land. (pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

Rachel Foster & Joshua grant in crystal pite’s emergence. (pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

Ivy Raines, Pages 48–49

Gigi Berardi, Pages 46–47

Frederic Gravel’s undress (on the boards; Denis Farley photo)

Jody Kuehner & Ricki Mason in The Cherdonna and Lou Show (Eric Paguio photo)

Chelsea Adomaitis in Kiyon Gaines’ Sum Stravinsky (Pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

Danica Bito in Alicia & Daniel Mullikin’s Iron Daisies (entropy; Joseph Lambert/jazzy photo)

Shorecrest high school’s Hip-Hop team (Physical Poetry Showcase; dejan nicik photo)

Yuka Oba & Nick Schultz in Olivier Wevers’ The Sofa (whim w’Him; Bamberg Fine Art photo)

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Rachel Gallaher, Pages 50–51

Ezra Dickinson (LEFT) in his mother for you i made this (Velocity Dance Center; Nate Watters photo)

The Chinese Tiger scene in Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker (Pacific northwest ballet; angela sterling photo)

JOAN LAAGE IN HER the ENGENDERING PROJECT (KOGUT BUTOH; Briana Jones photo)

Cornish Dance Theater dancers in Salt Horse’s Your Eyes Have Facets (Chris Bennion photo)

Sandra Kurtz, Pages 52–55 Corrie Befort in Ziggurat, a 10 Tiny Dances duet leading up to Titan Arum (Salt horse; Tim Summers photo) Shorecrest high school’s Hip-Hop team (Physical Poetry Showcase; dejan nicik photo) the Joffrey Ballet dancers in Kurt Jooss’ The Green Table (Herbert Migdoll photo)

Audacity Cru (Physical Poetry Showcase; hayley mclain photo)

mark haim’s this land is your land at the american dance festival (Grant Halverson/aDF photo)

Emily Sferra, Sarah Lustbader & Dylan Ward IN Elana Jacobs’ Heart Content (CabinFever; Joy Jacobs Photography)

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Carla Körbes with company dancers in kent Stowell’s Swan Lake (Pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo)

Alex Crozier & Cara May Marcus in Donald Byrd’S A CRUEL NEW WORLD/the new normal (SPECTRUM DANCE THEATER; Nate Watters PHOTO) Shorecrest high school’s Hip-Hop team (Physical Poetry Showcase; dejan nicik photo)

erica badgeley in elia mrak’s erica (@THRESHOLD; Joseph Lambert/jazzy Photo)

Leah Mann on the Violcano from Heavy Metal DëVices (lelavision; Michelle Bates photo

Back Cover Musician Anna Goren IN Elana Jacobs’ Heart Content (CabinFever; Joy Jacobs Photography)

Ezra Dickinson (LEFT) in his mother for you i made this (Velocity Dance Center; Nate Watters photo)

leta Biasucci & Ezra Thomson in Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling (pacific northwest ballet; Angela Sterling photo) Gregory Maqoma in his Exit/Exist (Gregory Maqoma/Vuyani Dance Theater; John Hogg photo)

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Joan Laage of Kogut Butoh in her Arbor Corpus from The Engendering Project (Briana Jones photo)

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Depending on your set-up, the online version of Seattle Dance Annual 2013 may also be searchable using the FIND feature (often accessed with the shortcut keys CMD-F or CTRL-F). In the online version, the index entries below are clickable links.

Writers

Index

Gigi Berardi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Mariko Nagashima. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Melody Elena Datz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Amy O’Neal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Rachel Gallaher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Paula J. Peters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Rosemary Jones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Ivy Raines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Alice Kaderlan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Marcie Sillman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Sandra Kurtz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Dean Speer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Tonya Lockyer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Michael Upchurch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Moira Macdonald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Anna Waller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Company, Festival & venue Pages @threshold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Lotus Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

10 Degrees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Manimou Camara & Denbaya . . . . . . . . 98

127th St. Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Mark Haim Dance and Theater. . . . . . . . 99

3rd Shift Dance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Maya Soto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Alana O Rogers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Amy O’Neal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Men in Dance: Against the Grain since 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Anna Conner + Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

On the Boards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

ARC Dance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Open Flight Studio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Ashani Dances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Pacific Northwest Ballet. . . . . . . . . . . . 110

badmarmarDance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Pat Graney Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

BOOST dance festival. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Redd Legg Dance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

CabinFever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Salt Horse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Catherine Cabeen - Hyphen. . . . . . . . . . 60

Scott/Powell Performance . . . . . . . . . . 106

Chamber Dance Company. . . . . . . . . . . 96

Seattle Dance Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Chop Shop: Bodies of Work. . . . . . . . . 122

SeattleDances Website. . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Christian Swenson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Seattle International Dance Festival . . . 123

Coriolis Dance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Seattle Theatre Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

DAIPANbutoh Collective’s Seattle Butoh Festival. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Serendipity Dance Brigade. . . . . . . . . . . 83

DanceNet Website. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Sheri Brown Dance Company. . . . . . . . 108

DASSdance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Spectrum Dance Theater . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Shannon Stewart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Dayna Hanson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Splinter Dance Company. . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Degenerate Art Ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Tectonic Marrow Society . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Entropy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

The Cabiri. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Evoke Productions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

The New Animals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Fremont Abbey Arts Center. . . . . . . . . 124

The Pendleton House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Gender Tender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

The Stone Dance Collective . . . . . . . . . . 92

International Ballet Theatre . . . . . . . . . . 68

UMAMI Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Karin Stevens Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

UW World Series. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Kate Wallich/The YC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Velocity Dance Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Khambatta Dance Company. . . . . . . . .103

Verlaine/McCann Present. . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Kogut Butoh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Whim W’Him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Lelavision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

zoe | juniper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Lingo Productions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

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Developing Your

Dance Language

Take the title of a famous movie, book, song, or saying & replace one word or short phrase with a ballet word.

Ballet IV Dr. Sous-Sus Little Bo Leap

by Dean Speer One of my colleagues at Dance! West Seattle, Christin Torp, unleashed an interactive and delightfully fun game as an exercise to learn the language of ballet—our shared vocabulary—with our youth ballet classes. The premise is simple: Take the title of a famous movie, book, song, or saying, replacing one word or short phrase with a ballet word. Give it a try—you’ll enjoy it! Here are some examples: Finding Nemo: Finding Fifth The Great Escape: The Great Echappé Or, one of my favorites, from a student, Emily: “There’s a ballet for that!” What are some of the ones that you can come up with? Here are a couple more to get you started: The 10 Commandments: The 10___________ The Hunger Games: The _______Games Here is what our classes at Dance! West Seattle came up with, by class level. I was very impressed with the results! Reprinted from CriticalDance.com February 2013

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Humpt y Dumpt y Pas de Cheval T h e L i t t l e E m b o î t é T h at C o u l d

First, a step... postscript

The Ugly Développé

How many local companies have been left out? I can’t even guess. A lot!

T h e Fa r m e r i n t h e D é g a g é

And how many other questions are there? I can’t even guess. A lot, too. Here are a few of them:

Advanced/Concert

Who counts as a company?

Hansel and the Gargouillade

And why are companies the focus?

Goldilocks and the Three Ballottés

What counts as a performance?

Beaut y and the Brisé

What counts as dance?

Sleeping Bourée

How many dance styles have been left out? Our folk groups. Club dancing and active social dancing venues like Century Ballroom. Ecstatic dancing. And many more.

The Pied Piqué Little Red Riding Rond de Jambe Hood

Jack and the Battement

Is there a way to categorize and catalogue without crushing out the magic?

The Princess and the Plié

Where are the teachers, those sages who shape us and show us and free us?

Saut de Chat and the Seven Dwarfs The Three Little Pirouettes

And the choreographers?

The Hunchback of Détournée

What counts as Seattle? (The vague answer to that one is: the Seattle area.)

James and the Giant Penché

The Frappé Prince À la Seconde in Wonderland

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And where, really, most importantly, are the dancers’ voices in all of this? These were some of the things that I thought about while working on this annual. I couldn’t answer them, but I couldn’t let that stop the project. It’s like learning to dance. You have to take that first step, and here it is: 148 pages of dance. Not all of Seattle’s dance is shown here...but... what a pleasure to see even this much Seattle dance in one place! Will there be a second step for the Seattle Dance Annual? Who will take it? What will it look like? If you’re interested in taking that second step or helping to guide it—in being part of the conversation that decides what Seattle Dance Annual 2014 will be like—check the website (www.seattledanceannual.com) sometime after August 1, 2014, for time, date, and location of the planning meeting in late September. Come! Or send a proxy. I’ll see you there.

Renversé and Juliet T h e P e r k s o f B e i n g a W a lt z F l o w e r

There are 65 listings in this annual.

—Rosie Gaynor above: Kaitlin Keegan Webster & teacher Michele Miller (Colleen Dishey photo; courtesy of Cornish College of the Arts Dance Department) S e at t l e D a n c e A n n u a l 2 0 1 3

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Kaori nakamura (Whim W’Him; Marc van borstel photo)

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